Flames of Time
by The Youkai Nightmare
Summary: Part 1 of the Reincarnated series. REWRITE of Ocarina of Time: Three Goddesses Reincarnated. The Goddesses wish to play an important role in Link's adventure, but they're going to go about it in an unconventional and almost indirect way.
1. A Tragic Fire

* * *

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here.**_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Hey all, just so that you all know, this is a rewrite of my first story, __Ocarina of Time: Three Goddesses Reincarnated__. As I was reading through it, I realized a couple of things. One was that…since I changed my mind so much about the plot and where it was headed, a lot of what I wrote ended up being discarded in the later chapters, or explained in such a way that was totally ridiculous! Another thing wrong was how I wrote it. Needless to say, I'm much older now, and I'm actually on summer break about to head off to college at the end of August, and my writing has gotten much better. Now, I can't say that it is necessarily FANTASTIC but it is better. Hopefully I can keep it in the same tense the whole way through. I love you all!!_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter One: A Tragic Fire  
**

As the end of the school day began to tick closer, students began to watch the clock. 3:15 was only five minutes away. For one girl, the time was going slowly. Every single stroke of the second-hand took what seemed like hours, and her teacher kept on droning away.

"All right class...your first and your last project for the semester…" She stated, a hand going through her hair. A hand in the back of the class shot up, a frown placed on the student's face. "Can't this wait?"

"Well…we only have five minutes left…can you really explain the project in that amount of time?" He asked, his voice was monotonous and his eyes half-lidded.

"If I can't, you're all staying after the bell." The teacher growled. Then, a smile blossomed on her face as she lifted the projector sheet and showed the white-board. On it was a timeline, crammed with different eras of history, from the prehistoric caveman-era to current history…and even a mark on the future. "I know that history bores a lot of people, and it excites very few. However, when it is written about, a lot of facts are left out, or just butchered. Trying to be historically accurate is very difficult. Therefore, I have made enough subdivisions of eras as are in this particular class." The woman went over to her desk and bent over to pick up a ridiculous-looking hat. It was the kind that French artists wore in the movies. In it were several slips of paper. "I will have all of you select your era from the slip in your hat. You may not trade, because I am going to write down what you have when you draw it out."

Groans filled the room. The hat was passed around and one by one the eras went away. When it reached a girl with semi-long red-brown hair, she grimaced and stuck her hand in the hat. One piece of paper had a tear in it, and she figured she might as well grab that one. She drew it out and unfolded it. "Medieval." She sighed, and put it in her pocket. It probably wasn't the best place to put it…but she could remember a report if it was brought up constantly.

When everybody had gotten done with the slips of paper, the teacher went up to the front of the room. About one minute to go. "This is due two months before the end of the year, and it can bring you up or down at a maximum of two grade levels. Now, since you're all seniors, you need this class to graduate. I suggest you spend a lot of time on the story. Make it multiple chapters, have good characters…and it absolutely has to be historically accurate."

The bell rang. Some students were ready to go at that second and others were still putting their things in their bags. The girl was one of them.

"Tessa…are you coming to the game?" Another girl came up and smiled. Tessa smiled back and then yawned.

"Yeah." She said that as she was yawning. "I have to go home first. Apparently I have to clear out some shed on our property that we didn't even know we had."

"You don't have that much property…how can you have a shed and not know it? You've been here for almost six years!"

"I know…it's small. Some trees hid it, and everybody is scared of ticks in my family. So, I get selected to go check it out, and clear out the trash." Tessa grinned and rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Oh! What if there are bodies?"

"…Well…I'll scream so loud you'll be able to hear it at the gym!" Tessa laughed, and the girls began to walk down the hall.

"I wish you had joined volleyball. I miss you on the team."

"I haven't played since my sophomore year. Sports aren't my thing." Tessa shrugged. The two walked in silence until the gym and the entrance to the school. "Well…I'll see you at the game!"

"See you!"

Tessa walked home. Although she was a senior in high school, she didn't have her driver's license. Freshly-turned 17, Tessa didn't enjoy driving. In fact, she had a heart-attack every time she got behind the wheel.

It took her a while to get home. When she did, she put her bag on the floor by the doorway and went up to change out of her school uniform into something better for cleaning. She went through her drawers and found that just about everything else was waiting in the laundry. With a muttered curse she looked through the state of all of her clothes. They were covered in mud and dirt. It was part of the lifestyle where she lived.

"I guess…school uniform it is." Tessa switched her school loafers for a pair of boots and grabbed a pair of gardening gloves from a drawer in the kitchen before she headed for the back yard. "Ugh…" Tessa wrinkled her nose at the smell that emanated from the abandoned shed. It had obviously been abandoned for a few of the previous house owners, not just her family. The trees and undergrowth made it difficult for Tessa to get to the shed. After a few minutes of trying, Tessa went to the kitchen and grabbed her dad's pocketknife. Another half-hour went by before she got into the building.

With a look at her watch, Tessa grimaced. If she was lucky, she could make it to the varsity volleyball game about half-way through. Tessa gave the doorknob a jiggle and confirmed it was locked. After trying to force it open as she hoped that old age and rotted wood would give way, she brought out the pocket knife again and tried to stick it in the keyhole. The knife was too big so she chose one of the other things…she wasn't exactly fluent in the different objects that could be found as part of a pocket knife. Eventually she got one to work, and the door creaked open. A gush of air started towards Tessa's back which caused Tessa to stumble as she walked in. Despite the wind, Tessa looked around. In order to keep her hair from whipping her face she grabbed it and put it in a quick high ponytail.

A strong smell caused Tessa to wrinkle her nose. Her dark brown eyes searched the shed as she wondered where the smell was coming from. Rotten wood and piles of hay met her eyesight. This was some sort of barn storage shed. "I can't clean all of this…" Tessa groaned, and her head hung back. The sky above her was cloudy, and off she could hear faint instances of thunder from somewhere in the distance. "This is just great, a storm. I'll never get to that game now." She muttered. As she put down her head to sigh and just give up on the spot, a bolt shot up her spine. It was then that she recognized the smell: gasoline.

She whirled around to bolt out of the shed, and tripped over her own two feet. With a yelp she ended up on the floor of the shed. She stiffened as she realized her front side, including her face, was now splashed with the chemical. Her eyes were wide as now she looked all over the floor. No part of the floor of the shed was left untouched. A strong light flashed, and a second later Tessa heard a loud bolt of thunder that made her flinch violently.

"Great…" Tessa growled. "A huge storm is about to hit and I'm in a huge conductor…" Tessa slapped the ground and sent more gasoline flying as she pushed herself up. Wind was starting to pick up and there were more frequent lightning bolts lighting up the sky. The door swung shut. She reached for the doorknob and tried it again, but it wouldn't turn. "Damn!"

Letting out a string of curses as she leaned forward to get the pocketknife from her boot, where she had stored it. Another bolt of lightning went, and with horror Tessa whipped around to see the back of the shed catching fire. "No!" Tessa cried, and ran forward to where she fell and grabbed the pocketknife. Tessa saw the fire spread and bolted for the door. She fumbled with the pocketknife as the smell of burning wood reached her senses. Her heart began to pound and she dropped the knife. More curses ensued and tears fell down Tessa's eyes as she bent down to get the knife. With a look back her heart stopped. Only a few seconds until the fire hit the gasoline.

She tried to kick the door, all thoughts of the knife forgotten. The flames spread like wildfire towards Tessa, and soon she was surrounded by fire. Pain seared up her legs and she felt the flames licking at her thighs. She screamed as much as she could. "Mom! Dad! Somebody! Help! I need help! Call the fire department! Get me out of here!" She called, pounding on the door. Her voice became hoarser as she took in more breaths of smoke, and her vision became blurred.

Flames began to climb up the front of Tessa's body due to the gasoline splashed all over her body. Tessa screamed her lungs out, as she looked around. Instead of trying the door, she ran towards one of the walls, and tried to kick it down. That only sent more pain searing through her body. As she ran towards the back of the shed, her legs collapsed. Flames engulfed her body. Tessa couldn't even scream anymore. Her breath became labored, and she coughed up blood. Soon, her vision blackened until she couldn't see, and she lost consciousness.

* * *

"I don't like the look of that storm." A beautiful red-headed girl at about the age of 17 frowned she covered her bright blue eyes to look at the sky. "It's going to be a big one, isn't it girl?" She murmured as she patted the horse that lead the carriage. "We have to make it to the ranch soon…" She scanned the horizon. The ranch was visible, but still a ways away. With a sigh, she the woman murmured an apology towards her horse and flicked the reins in order to quicken the mare's pace. She looked back to make sure her purchases were safely strapped in to the back of the wagon and smiled. Everything was in place.

She had been travelling for two days since she had left the village of Kakariko in order to sell her ranch's milk and other meat products that most people couldn't get anywhere else. Her name was Malon, and she was a popular girl amongst the villagers. Her and her father, Talon, lived on a ranch outside of any city or village boundaries due to the amount of land her ranch took up. The storm was growing bad really fast, and Malon finally had the horse bolt out at a full gallop when they hit the long trail that led up to Lon Lon Ranch. The wind picked up, blowing Malon's hair in multiple directions. She ignored it, and concentrated on getting back to the ranch safely.

Screams suddenly invaded Malon's sensitive hearing, she her head whipped to the origin. Not too far away she could see a fire slowly dying. It seemed contained, but those screams unnerved her. After a moment of debating, Malon encouraged the mare to go towards the fire at a full gallop. Malon's conscience wouldn't be able to handle it if somebody died like that so close to the shelter of her ranch.

It didn't take her very long to reach the ranch, and it seemed that the storm was dying already, which was odd. Heat radiated off the place where the fire was located, though as Malon reached it the only thing left was a small patch of flame here and there, and mostly just the remnants of whatever burned. A strange smell hit Malon's nose, one that she couldn't identify, but she pushed it out of her head. She halted her horse and wagon before she dismounted from the seat, and began to inspect the area. She hitched her skirt up and tucked some of it into her belt so that it wouldn't catch the flames.

At first, Malon didn't see much in the roughage until something caught her eye. It was a dark, dirty lump amongst all of the burnt wood. Goosebumps flew up Malon's arm as she reached out to touch it. When her hand made contact, it flinched, and Malon could finally identify what she was looking at. It was a person. Malon bent down to look closer. Everything about this girl, down to her clothes, was intact, but very dirty. Her skin, though it seemed to have been surrounded by fire, was cold and dirty. However, it also appeared very smooth.

With a frown, Malon carefully turned the girl over and inspected her. She seemed in perfectly good shape, and she was definitely alive. "This poor girl…" Malon murmured, and then stopped short. The ears on this girl were strange. Malon's own ears showed her Hylian heritage. They were long and pointed. On the ground, the girl had short rounded off ears, more like a Gerudo than a Hylian.

"Hello?" Malon prodded the body warily, and then looked at the clothes when she received no response. "I don't think she's a Gerudo…" Malon murmured. Although the skirt was a tad short, she had never heard of a Gerudo wearing any sort of skirt. The clothing style wasn't part of any region she had heard of. Was this girl a foreigner? Was she lost?

Malon sighed and grabbed the girl around her wrists in order to drag her up, and then hoisted her piggy-style onto her own back. Once Malon was entirely sure that the girl was secure she carried her to the wagon and placed her in a clear space in the back that she had made for herself to sleep in originally. As she made sure the girl would be safe there, Malon climbed back onto the front of the wagon and took up the reins. "All right, on to home. I have a lot of cleaning to do now."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_So, if you've read __Ocarina of Time: Three Goddesses Reincarnated__ already, you can tell how different this one is already! Along with rewriting it, I want to make it different enough to attract both people who've read the original story, and those who are reading this for the first time (It was popular the first time around…so I have a lot of probably misplaced hopes for this). Even the ending will be different! When I get the inspiration back, I'll write the sequels to __OoTTGR__ even more, but I really do have an explanation for that._

_My computer crashed, I lost ALL of my memory (EVERYTHING!!) and I've been enduring my senior year of high school. Now I have a laptop and I'm getting ready for college, and since I'm sick of writing the next chapter for __Twilight Princess: Realm of Immortals__ over and over and over again (as has happened when my computer started bugging really badly) so eventually, someday, I'll get back to that. I will admit though, I really don't like Diana's character. The only good thing about her is that I named her after my cat, Luna. SO I'm just going to throw a fit and leave it alone for a while. __Windwaker: Awakening the Sages__ is the same way, but I like Mikayla._


	2. Meeting Malon

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Two: Meeting Malon**

Warm. That was the first thought that dragged itself to the front of Tessa's mind. Another word she could think of was 'soft'. Wherever she was, she was comfortable, but a splitting headache made her brain throb against her forehead. With a groan, Tessa began to open her eyes, but the light that shined on them caused her to groan again and cover her eyes again.

"You're awake." A strange voice stated to her. Tessa let her eyes slowly adjust to the light, and as she did a strange shape appeared in front of her vision. As she let her eyes focus, the lines became sharper, and she was able to distinguish a girl. At first, she looked normal: a sympathetic expression characterized the girl's face among a sea of red hair. Her bright blue eyes sparkled a little bit as one of her hands wiped a towel over Tessa's forehead. Then, Tessa saw her ears, which were long and pointed. At first Tessa didn't react, and then she tried to sit up. "You shouldn't do that, you're not quite stable…"

"I could tell…" Tessa frowned, her muscles screamed in protest as she tried to remember what happened in order to get her into this state of pain. "…My vision is so mess up." Tessa made a lopsided grin towards the girl. "You look like an elf."

"What's an elf?" The girl asked, confused.

"Well…" Tessa frowned, surprised that the girl had never heard of them. "Traditionally they have pointed ears, live in the forest, and don't die of old age. I think. They're also beautiful beyond all reason."

"Oh…you think I'm an elf because of my ears?" The girl asked, and reached out to touch the tips of hers. Tessa's eyes widened as she gripped the sheets upon her bed. "Don't worry, you're eyes are fine. My ears really are like that. Thank you for the compliment."

"Umm…you're welcome…" Tessa murmured; she felt dizzier than she had before she had opened her eyes. "I think I'm dreaming…"

The girl frowned, and reached over to touch Tessa's arm. Then, quickly, she gave Tessa a hard pinch that made Tessa yelp slightly. "I believe you are awake. What is your name anyway?"

"Um…" Tessa paused for a moment. She didn't know whether telling this girl her real name was a good idea, but as far as Tessa knew the girl had done nothing wrong to her. She seemed genuinely nice. Then again, Tessa had been a bad judge of character throughout most of her life. "My name is Tessa." Tessa stated finally, with a small smile on her face. "What's your name?"

Suddenly the girl produced a huge grin on her face as she stood up and began to pull out clothes from the closet in the room. "I'm Malon, of Lon Lon Ranch! My father, Talon, owns this ranch and the only workers he has are Ingo and I. We supply all of the milk throughout all of the villages in Hyrule!" Malon chirped. She continued her spiel of facts about her ranch, from horses to cows to cuckoo and Tessa began to feel even more lost. She didn't remember asking for a family history, and as she searched through what her teachers had taught her over the past 12 years of school, nothing about a country named 'Hyrule' ever came up.

"Malon?" Tessa asked, stopping the girl in the middle of a sentence. "What…" Tessa asked, and then had to take a deep breath. "What continent are we on?"

The girl got quiet, and stared at Tessa for a while. This made Tessa feel very uncomfortable so she began to fiddle with the sheets instead. "I don't think I know what a continent is…" Malon stated quietly after a while, and then smiled. "Why don't you explain it?"

"Well…" Tessa frowned. "It's…when you get a land mass separate from other landmasses…with countries on them…except for one. There's North America, where I'm from, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica…"

"I don't think I've ever heard of any of them." Malon frowned, and put her finger to her lips. "I don't think I know of any countries either, just the kingdom of Hyrule."

That last statement made Tessa's eyes widen. "D-did you say Kingdom?!" Tessa exclaimed. Malon nodded in response.

"Yes…although…it's not much of a kingdom anymore…" Malon frowned. "Not since Ganondorf took over…"

Tessa blinked in confusion before she thought about the name Malon had just stated. Malon jumped when Tessa suddenly gave a burst of laughter and fell back down onto the bed, tears rolling down her eyes from the pain of laughing with the way she was sore. "That's a funny name! What kind of mother names her child that?!" Tessa held her side for dear life as the pain shot at her torso. "Malon, make it stop!" Tessa finally begged. Malon, who had been worried already at Tessa's tears, went over to where there was a pitcher of cold water upon a dresser and poured it all over Tessa's face. Tessa shot up with shock, but at least the laughing had stopped.

"Tessa…he isn't a funny man." Malon stated seriously as she sighed and replaced the pitcher upon the table. "He's a murderer, a thief, and he's powerful beyond anything you can imagine."

"Well…" Tessa sighed. "I can't say I've ever heard of him. He can't be that terrible, or else he'd be all over the news…" Even as Tessa said that, she realized something incredibly odd. Light had continued to pour in to the room through the window, but at the same time, if it got dark, there were no lights to turn on in order to see. A few candles lied about as did a few matches, but there wasn't anything technological.

"The news? Well, it'd be hard to get news from different kingdoms…or countries…" Malon frowned. "I sometimes hear news from the people I deliver milk and our meat too, but other than that we really don't have that much to tell each other."

"Oh…never mind…" Tessa got really quiet, and stared at her own hands. She had to admit, she liked technology a lot. It wasn't like she was an expert at it, but she did enjoy it.

"Are you hungry at all?" Malon's voice showed that she had just wanted to change the subject. Tessa didn't say anything in response, but at the mention of food, or the lack of food, her stomach began to rumble. With a light laugh, Malon put the clothes that she had gathered on Tessa's bed. "Well then, I'll start to cook. We're having beef stew tonight, please join us when you're dressed!"

Tessa raised an eyebrow as Malon left the room, but looked down to see what Malon was talking about before she blushed. The entire time she had been talking she hadn't been wearing anything. With a muffled scream Tessa pulled the covers over her head. Her muscles didn't like the sudden movement, and Tessa was hit with another wave of pain. "Owwwwwww." Tessa groaned. With a sigh, she looked at her hands. There wasn't even dirt underneath her fingernails. She had recently been given a bath, though she couldn't remember what happened.

"Let's see…" Tessa murmured with a frown. "I…went to school…I…went home…and…I Went to the storage shed to clean it." There was a long pause, but all that came after it was a groan. "What happened after that? How did I get here?" Tessa buried her face into the pillow behind her, but still could not remember a single event. "Why? Why can't I remember?" Tessa frowned. "I want to remember…"

After a while Tessa gave up, and flung the covers off her body. She hissed as she moved out and reached for the clothes. "Shirt…skirt…underwear…" Tessa frowned, and began to search the covers. "Socks…"

Tessa growled. "Don't tell me there aren't any bras here…" Tessa slowly got on all fours and looked underneath the bed she had been given, but still there was nothing. "Okay…maybe in the drawers."

There weren't many clothes in the drawers, but Tessa did find her school uniform. It looked freshly cleaned. In the end she found what she was looking for, but realized that there weren't similar articles of clothing to be found. Instead of worry, Tessa put on the outfit that Malon had given her. It consisted of a soft light red skirt that went down to her ankles with a white blouse. Tessa realized that Malon had left out Tessa's yellow scarf that went with her uniform, but gave her a different clip for it. It had the face of something that Tessa couldn't identify. Underneath the bed Tessa found her boots. After she put them on her feet she walked out. There was a stairwell that led down a few rooms and into a kitchen and dining room area, where Malon was cooking.

"Hello!" Malon chirped. "I know you must be starving, there's some bread on the table for you to hold you over until dinner." Malon motioned towards the table, and Tessa's mouth began to water. The bread was fresh out of the oven, and Tessa immediately took a seat. She was famished. She heard Malon's light laughter. "Well, I guess I'm not surprised. You've been in bed for a week!"

Tessa stopped chewing as her eyes widened. When she looked up to see Malon's back turned. "I've been out for a week?"

"Yeah." Malon finished stirring and came to sit across from Tessa at the table. "I found you among a dying fire. Except for being covered in soot…and something black and smelly…you were fine. It was amazing."

Tessa remained silent as she tried to rack her brain for a memory of a fire, but after entering the shed there was nothing. "I'm sorry…I don't remember what happened…I don't even know how I got here. This is a foreign place to me." Tessa clenched her hands on her knees underneath the table.

"Well, don't worry about it. Until you figure out what happened, or what to do, you can live here." Malon smiled. "So long as you can help out with the ranch."

"Well…" Tessa sighed. "I don't really have any experience, but I'd be honored to help." Even the words in Tessa's mouth sounded foreign. She wasn't used to being so polite with people.

"All right then! You'll help Ingo with his work. He's the stable hand, and does a lot of the dirty work. I figured with the state of your boots, you weren't all that repulsed by dirt."

"Not at all. It's everywhere." Tessa smiled. "Although…I'm pretty sore now…"

"The best way to get over it is to work. If it gets too much for you, Ingo will take over. He's doing the heavier stuff anyway. And, as for your payment…"

"Oh! No…you don't have to pay me." Tessa's face turned red. "You've done so much for me already."

"Well…I don't think I'll accept that." A new voice came into the room, and Tessa whirled around to see a portly man with brown hair and a bald spot on top of head. "I'm Talon, head of this ranch and Malon's father. I've already decided to give you the same starting salary as Ingo had when he began to work here fifteen years ago. 100 rupees a week."

"I know it's a lot, but we're a ranch that makes a lot of profit! You need to live too." Malon smiled, but Tessa simply blinked.

"What are rupees?" Tessa asked. "Are they your currency?"

"Yes. Here…" Malon brought out a sort of pouch and brought out what looked like a green jewel. "These are worth the least. They have the sum of one. Blue is five, Red is twenty and purple is fifty." Malon grinned. "There are others, but not a lot of people are brave enough to carry something so valuable."

"In any case, little girl, you start work the day after tomorrow. How much longer until dinner, Malon?"

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_It's a quick chapter, but it took me all day to write. Well…actually, I made 2 bases on my deviant-art account. One has multiple of my OC's for this story series (yes, it will be a series) and the other has my Twili character for the third planned story within it. Designing characters ahead of time helps me think about what I'm doing, and help me what to write. Although, beginnings are the hardest! I promise to lengthen the chapters once I really get onto the main storyline.  
_

_Please tell me what you think!_


	3. A Change in Management

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Three: A Change in Management**

"All right girlie." Ingo growled towards Tessa as he swaggered towards the stalls with a pitchfork. "According to Talon, you're my apprentice from now on. That means you do whatever I say, and I do everything to my standards. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir." Tessa nodded, inwardly groaning. She didn't like Ingo's attitude as soon as she had met him, and apparently it only got worse from there. Malon had told Tessa the previous day that Ingo was a bit sour in attitude, but he really had a good heart. Tessa wasn't so sure she believed the girl.

"All right, when we muck out the horses stall, the waste goes into this wagon that I'll take charge of it then." Ingo looked smug, but Tessa wasn't sure if it was really that exciting to turn manure into soil. However, she supposed that everybody got their thrills in different ways, and she really didn't have the right to judge. Ingo handed her a pitchfork, and Tessa began to work. She realized that the skirts that she had been given would get dirty, but apparently it was what Malon wore around the ranch as well. Maybe they were used to getting dirty.

It didn't take long for Tessa to become exhausted. Sweat made her clothes stick to her skin, and she had to wipe some of it off her forehead in order to keep it out of her eyes. Tessa wished she also had something to hold back her hair, as it kept on getting in the way of her vision. As much as she was apprehensive about the smell, there really wasn't anything foul. The entire stable just smelled like horses and hay.

Work continued on for the next month without Ingo saying much. He used grunts to communicate his satisfaction with Tessa's work. Tessa was curious to ask him if he ever was happy with his life, because of his forlorn attitude, but she figured that it wouldn't be the best idea to ask him about it.

Sometimes Malon would leave the village to go on deliveries. Tessa always wondered where Malon would go off to. A big part of her curiosity wanted to see what the rest of the kingdom was like, but every time she asked Ingo he gave her the same answer. The man would shove a pitchfork into her hands and point to the stalls. At one point Tessa crouched down in a freshly-cleaned stall and pulled out her rupee pouch. "What's the point of having all of this money if I can't even use it?"

Once in a while Malon would take her out for a ride on the horses though. There was one that Tessa quickly learned would not be very pleasant. Her name was Epona, and she was a beautiful mare. She was chestnut with a white stripe and white socks. Her mane and tail were mostly white with hints of black. According to Malon, only one person besides her could really get along with Epona, and she hadn't seen him for almost seven years.

Tessa quickly got along with one filly. A dark bay named Tompton who was mild-mannered and friendly. Tessa made a point to get carrots for the horse every day that she could. Asides from Malon, Tompton was her best friend in the strange world that she had found herself in.

The ranch was peaceful, and fun could be found whenever there was spare time. Tessa thoroughly enjoyed working at the ranch, but at the same time she felt homesick. She was no closer to finding her whereabouts, or her way home. The routine of Lon Lon Ranch kept Tessa preoccupied, and time flew before she knew it.

At first, Tessa's hair had been slightly damaged from exposure to the fire that Malon had found her in, and Malon had gladly made Tessa's hair shorter, and easier to manage. It was growing back to its long status however, and Tessa continued to have problems with keeping her hair out of the way of her work.

"Tessa, how about we go for another ride?" Malon asked one day. The sky was clear and blue, except for the occasional puffy cloud that floated into sight. Wind was also down to a minimum. Something about it though set Tessa off, like the calm before a storm.

"Sure. I've finished the stable work for a little bit now…" Tessa smiled, and both girls went to gather their horse and equipment before something stopped Malon cold. Tessa didn't notice at first, until she realized that the red-head wasn't chattering her ear off like usual. "Malon? What's wrong?" Tessa turned around but froze as she saw a humongous man. He was heavily tanned, as if he had lived in a desert for most of his life. His nose was a bit big for his face, and he wore heavy black armor with a flowing red cape. Next to him a gigantic black stallion stamped its foot with a snort.

"Where is the owner of this ranch?" The man sneered. Malon stood there, frozen stiff, but began to stammer. Tessa just stared, confused. He might have been a mean guy, but she wasn't so sure that meant he was as terrifying as he looked. His horse, on the other hand, might have been something the both of them would want to avoid.

Tessa then noticed the man's ears. Like hers, they were rounded instead of pointed. Instead of being relieved that she had found somebody with similar physical characteristics, she felt confused.

"I…I'll take you to him…he's with…Ingo…" Malon trembled, but forced her eyes away from the man before giving a deep bow. "King Ganondorf."

Tessa's heart stopped then and there. She simply could not believe that the man before her was a king of any sort. Although he had armor, and he certainly dressed the part, there was something about him that seemed off. The air around him was malicious. Tessa decided to ask Malon concerning the guy later.

Malon brought herself up from her bow and jerkily lead Ganondorf towards the area where Talon and Ingo were discussing ranch matters. Out of pure curiosity, Tessa followed. Ingo seemed to be his same old grump self, and neither of the two seemed to notice Malon approaching with the king, until they were relatively close. All matters of business were halted at that moment and the two gave very deep, shaky bows. Tessa realized that she hadn't shown any respect towards Ganondorf, but at the same time she felt that showing him respect would be wrong. It was some sort of gut feeling. In any case, he wasn't her king anyway.

"I would like to reserve a horse from you." Ganondorf began, speaking to Talon. The two began to discuss trade; however the tubby ranch owner could not form a word without having to stammer it out. Tessa began to feel increasingly worse for the poor man. She could tell by the edge in the king's voice that he was getting quite fed up with Talon's nervous behavior as well. "The fact that this ranch has survived under your leadership astounds me." Ganondorf finally sneered, his voice full of contempt. "I can't do business with you. From this day forward, you shall head this ranch!" The king pointed to Ingo, who looked stunned. "You had better kick this filthy piece of trash out of here before the next time I visit, or there will be severe consequences!" The king whirled around; his cape flapped through the air. He came to stand in front of Tessa, who stood rigidly still and stared right into the man's eyes. "And you. You haven't done a single thing since I have arrived. I don't believe you have shown me any signs of respect. In fact, it looks as if you have something to say to me."

Tessa's eyes widened and she put her hands on her hips. Even though he was a king, she wasn't entirely sure that it was right for him to control who managed the ranch that Talon had received from a long line of ancestors. "As a matter of fact, I do." Tessa scowled. She could see the eyes of Talon and his daughter, which were wet with tears, widen and they began to wave their arms in order to get her to stop whatever she was going to say.

However, before Tessa could say anything more than that, Ganondorf let out a deep bellow of laughter, which left Tessa off-guard. After a moment, Tessa became offended and her scowl grew even meaner. "Little girl, you don't know who you're dealing with, do you?"

"I believe that I am dealing with a conceited king who has a poor time dealing with people, and I am not a little girl." Tessa said that last part as viciously as she could. It was true that Tessa was relatively short for her age, but she was sensitive about that point.

"Such impudence." Ganondorf seemed to sigh, and raised his hand towards her. Tessa raised an eyebrow, not impressed at all with the gesture. Suddenly Tessa flew back about a quarter of a mile with a jolt of hot pain. She landed on her back and lay there, stunned. Soon the image of the king appeared in her line of vision, but she couldn't even react. "Ingo, see that you have taken care of this girl's manners by the time I return. I would hate to have to kill her next time." With one final smirk in Tessa's direction he mounted his horse and galloped out of the ranch property.

Silence enveloped the ranch inhabitants. Even the cuckoos had stopped their noise and had frozen in place. Tessa couldn't move for a few minutes, until Malon's wailing reached her ears. Tessa jerked herself out of her stupor and jumped up onto her feet.

"You heard the man!" Ingo had a sort of sadistic look to his face. "I want you out of here by noon tomorrow. The other two will stay. Somebody needs to do the work around here."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Yeah, so I read the original from the forest temple onward to give myself an idea of what I had written. Thus I got inspired to write the third chapter of this! However, it is also almost three in the morning, and I am completely tired. Actually…I'm not…but sleep is a good thing, you know?_

_Also, The Silverdark Knight deserves my thanks!! You're a great support!_


	4. A Silly Green Hat

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Four: A Silly Green Hat**

"Malon…please talk to me." Tessa begged the girl next to her. Malon had stayed in her room for the past month, unless she had to make deliveries. "I know this is horrible…I really do." Once again, tears welled up in her eyes. She had never imagined that something so terrible could happen to people she had grown to be good friends with. "Malon, please, you have to live your life. If you want to stay at this ranch, you have to work, or Ingo will throw you out too!"

Every morning and night since they had encountered Ganondorf, Tessa had been with Malon trying everything she knew in order to cheer the girl up. A month had gone by, and Malon hadn't spoken a word. Sometimes Tessa wondered that when Malon went back to town, she might not come back. After all, Malon's father was in a village named Kakariko now. Her family was her life, asides from this ranch. The only reason that Tessa could gather that the red-head hadn't left was because of her love of the ranch. There was a lot of history there for the Hylian girl.

Tessa waited a while for any sort of response before she once again gave up. She stood up and smoothed her nightgown out, though it was pointless, and headed for the door. When she reached her hand out for the handle she took one look back and sighed. A sense of hopelessness filled her, and she went to bed.

Along with Malon's behavior, Tessa had been having a multitude of nightmares about Ganondorf. They ranged from her actual encounter with him to much worse. Some nights she woke up in a cold sweat and had to make sure that she still had all of her limbs. That man had done so much damage to the ranch, Tessa couldn't even bear it.

Ingo had become a tyrant. Instead of being the quiet grouch that Tessa worked for, he had become loud and obnoxious. He boasted left and right, and it had been right away that Ingo had picked out the perfect horse for the king who had given him the ranch. Tessa's skin crawled when she thought about any of the ranch's horses being used by that man, but for some reason the thought of using Epona made her sick. She imagined that she would have felt the same way about Tompton, but there was something about Epona's spirit that didn't seem to contain that sort of fate.

At one point the monster had even come back to the ranch in order to inspect its new management. Instead of coming face-to-face with the man, Tessa hid upon the roof of one of the barns and watched. Ganondorf seemed to know where she had been hiding the entire time though, because he had passed her on his way out with a devilish smirk upon his face and a glance in her direction.

There were times when she was mucking out stalls that Tessa let her imagination get the best of her. Once she imagined shoving the pitchfork up Ingo's ass to teach him a good lesson, but she knew better than to speak out now. She was lucky that hay covered up the bottom of the stalls; otherwise Ingo would have been able to spot the many punctures that Tessa made with the pitchfork when her temper got the best of her as well.

One day, however, everything seemed to change.

Tessa was out giving the horses their daily treats when she noticed a strange person walk into the ranch. She scowled and moved to the other side of the horse so that he wouldn't notice her as easily. When she figured it was safe she moved on to the next horse, but always kept one eye on the stranger. He stood around as if reminiscing the past before Ingo came up to him, a giant grin on his face. Tessa could pick out a few words of their conversation, something about horses and Ingo asking for rupees. The man handed over a payment and Ingo let him into the corral to pick a horse to ride. Tessa had finished all of the horses by now, and backed off to the fence. There was no way she was going to let a stranger catch her off guard.

However, he didn't seem to notice her as he looked around. Tessa took the time to observe him. The first thing she thought of was that his clothes were funny. He wore a green tunic with white leggings and brown boots. A belt wrapped around his waist and it looked like he carried many different items within it. Upon his back were a sword with a fancy blue hilt and a shield. What struck Tessa the most was his hat. It was a little bit silly, but it matched his tunic at least. It was long and flowed in the wind, but at the same time it also seemed to fit him. She couldn't make out his facial features, but she did notice his blonde bangs and long pointed ears. He must have been another Hylian. From his hat shot out a glowing ball with wings.

Tessa glanced over at Ingo to see if he was paying attention but he seemed to have his eyes fully concentrated on his watch. A scowl of disgust formed on the human's face. "The man can make money off anything. He'll make all of Hyrule go bankrupt."

Suddenly the man pulled out a blue ocarina and began to play a melody. Tessa was confused at first until she realized exactly what melody it was. Malon had sung that melody at nights when she couldn't sleep, and she used it to soothe Epona whenever the mare got upset. When Epona trotted over to him and welcomed him with a whinny Tessa's eyes bulged. She still couldn't get Epona near her unless she had food, and then she couldn't touch the horse. Link smiled and motioned for the mare to stay where she was and he went to have a talk with Ingo.

"Tessa!" Ingo shouted. Tessa jumped and jogged over to the two, making sure to keep her eyes away from the customer. Even though Epona trusted him didn't mean that she did. "We're going to have a race. Now, get my horse and the horse that the young man has picked out and get them saddled!"

"Yes sir." Tessa bowed and went to fetch Ingo's horse. It was a dark bay stallion with no name, but Tessa had learned to pick him out from a crowd of horses. He knew that Ingo wouldn't be happy if she got the customer's horse first in any case. The stallion whinnied a welcome and Tessa led it to the area directly outside of the corral in order to saddle it up. She went to the storage area and grabbed Ingo's equipment and set the horse up. When she was done she realized that the customer had brought Epona over for Tessa. She nodded slightly in thanks and went for the spare equipment. The man watched her the entire time.

"What's your name?" He finally asked quietly, when Ingo was making sure his tack was perfect. Tessa didn't answer at first, but instead adjusted the girth.

"Tessa." Tessa murmured, and apprehensively went to put the bit of the bridle into Epona's mouth. Epona stamped and Tessa jumped a little bit.

"Do you know a girl named Malon around here?" Link asked, even quieter. Tessa nodded, but concentrated more on the task at hand. "Where is she?"

"In her room." Tessa answered shortly as she finished up her work. Part of her just wanted to call him a pervert, because of what he was asking. However, he didn't say anything further but gave her a funny look. She noticed that he seemed to be looking at her ears. With flushed cheeks of embarrassment Tessa let the man know that she was done with her work and rushed off to the barn. She climbed the ladder to the roof and watched as Ingo and the man talked rules. She could only catch some parts of it, but she caught enough to understand that it was a race. If the customer won the race then he got to keep the horse. This shocked Tessa.

"Doesn't he realize what horse that is?" Tessa said quietly. However, her thoughts were cut off as Ingo counted down the start. The two horses bolted into action, Ingo's horse taking the lead right off the bat. The race seemed easy enough at first, Ingo maintained the lead for the first half but then the guy began to ask a little more of Epona. The chestnut mare easily caught up with Ingo by the third quarter and by the finish line the guy pulled ahead. He patted Epona on the neck with thanks and turned the horse to look at Ingo.

Ingo was livid. Tessa couldn't remember seeing him so angry, but instead of yelling he went to the only gate leading out of the barn and closed it. The customer frowned and rode up to see what was going on.

"That's Epona! I can't believe I fell for that!" Ingo screamed, which startled the two horses around him. He suddenly composed himself and went on. "I'm a man of my word. I'll let you keep the horse. However I never said anything about that horse leaving my ranch now did I?" Ingo grinned and laughed. "You're one of my new workers now!" Ingo continued to laugh as he went to his quarters to rest.

Tessa watched the man's reaction. He didn't seem angry at first, but he did seem a bit disturbed. The light that Tessa had seen earlier flew out in front of his face and began to speak. "Link, we have to find a way out of here! Impa told us to go to Kakariko…"

"I know Navi, I know." The man, Link, consented, and began to look around. His eyes eventually found Tessa's hiding spot above him, and Tessa tried to hide herself even more. "Tessa, may I ask a favor?" Link asked. At first Tessa was stiff, but she finally took a deep breath and peeked her head over the side so that she could see him fully.

"What favor?" Tessa frowned.

"Can you open the gates for me?" Link asked politely. Tessa shook her head and the fairy flew up to meet her face.

"What do you mean you can't?" The fairy screeched; her soft yellow glow turned to red really quickly. Tessa jumped back a few feet and stared wide-eyed at the ball of light, and it took a few moments of startled silence for her to answer.

"I…I don't have the key…I'm sorry…" Tessa began to shudder, wondering if Link would blast her like Ganondorf did. "If you promise me something though…I'll tell you another way out." Tessa's confident tone was betrayed by the way she shook.

"What condition?" Link asked, before Navi could reply.

"Bring Talon back to this ranch."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Well, now it's almost 4:30 in the morning, and I haven't gotten any sleep. I just felt like typing this one, and so I'll go to bed this time. Please review!_


	5. Talon's Return

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Five: Talon's Return**

"Two weeks." Tessa grumbled. "It's been two flipping weeks…" She shoved her pitchfork into the wooden wall of the stall she had just cleaned. "That jerk hasn't come back yet." With a snarl Tessa yanked the tool out of the wall and put it where it was supposed to be. Ever since Link had taken Epona out of the Ranch, Ingo had been in an uproar. He spent three days pulling his hair out and yelling at Tessa every instance he could. Malon had stayed in her room the entire time so she didn't have to endure Ingo's fit. In the past two days Ingo had taken to himself, cursing once in a while, and exploding once every so often in a fit of screams. At the same time, Tessa had become tenser around the man. Part of her was paranoid that his fits wouldn't end up good for her.

"I shouldn't have helped him…now we've lost Epona. When Malon finds out…if she ever finds out…she'll be even more devastated that she is now." Tessa sighed. She grabbed the daily carrots for the horses and headed towards the corral. The horses could somehow sense Tessa's terrible mood and even the pull of the carrot's delicious smell wouldn't bring them to her.

"If that's how y'all fell…fine!" Tessa almost shouted and upended the basket so that the carrots fell to the ground. "Come get them yourselves!" Tessa spread the carrots out so that they weren't in a pile and swung around on her heel as she mumbled curses to herself. She collided with something that she hadn't seen behind her, and had just enough time to smell a scent of the forest before she fell to the ground on her butt with a yelp. She looked up to see Link standing in front of her with an apologetic gaze.

"Sorry, I was just coming to tell you that Talon is back." The blonde-haired blue-eyed Hylian murmured as he offered a hand to help Tessa up. Tessa narrowed her eyes at him before she put her hands on the ground and helped herself up. Link looked taken aback by Tessa's refusal of help but didn't say anything.

"It took you long enough." Tessa brushed out her skirt and walked around him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the fairy fly first in a circle and then in front of her.

"Well excuse us if we had trouble finding the man!" Navi snapped at Tessa. "It's not like we had an easy time of it you know. You could at least show us a little gratitude!"

"Yeah, I bet that Kakariko Village is just so big that you couldn't figure out where he was. Malon goes on deliveries and it takes her less than a week. It took you guys two!" Tessa snapped and walked right on past the fairy. To be honest she did not know why she felt she harshly about the pair, but at the moment she was seething. Talon had probably run up to her daughter's room to reassure her, and in the distance she could see Ingo pulling his hair out of his scalp.

"What am I going to do?!" Ingo screamed at the sky. "Great Goddesses what is going to happen to me?!" He continued to stare at the sky; his eyes accused it as if they had done everything to him. Tessa blinked at his choice of words. She hadn't really asked anybody about the beliefs around Hyrule, but apparently they were polytheistic. Ingo saw her and scowled. "What do you want, girl? To make my life even more miserable?"

"No, I was just passing by." Tessa allowed her tone to betray her feelings towards the man. She wondered what he would do when Talon took the ranch back from him. There was no way that Talon would kick the man out, he was too forgiving for that kind of thing. If he stayed it would be Ingo's own choice, and he would still be in charge of Tessa. She wasn't entirely sure that a future at the ranch was very appealing to her now.

With a glance to the sky Tessa realized that the sun was disappearing below the protective wall that completely surrounded Lon Lon Ranch. Of course, that would mean that she would have to offer Link a room to stay in for the night. With a groan she went to the kitchen to begin cooking. Hopefully Malon would begin this chore again. Cooking was one of Tessa's weak-points. However, when she entered the kitchen, Malon was already at the stove and Talon was sitting at the table, a giant grin on his face. Tessa went unnoticed as she entered, and instead of intruding on the family's time together she closed the door quietly and stayed outside. A sudden feeling of homesickness began to envelope her and she went to the stables to see how the cows were.

Tessa stayed there for a while and just sat on the bench in the spare stall. Her eyes never left the stall wall as memories of her family flooded through her. She didn't notice when Link actually came to the stall to tell her that dinner was ready, and she didn't notice when he left. She hugged her knees close to her body and immersed her mind in memories.

* * *

"Thank you so much for all of your help, Link." Malon stated quietly as she served him. Talon was on one side of her, and Link was on the other side of Talon. Ingo had grabbed his plate and took it to his room. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to dine with the others. Nobody really blamed him for his feelings.

"It's no problem. I just had a hard time convincing Talon that everything would be fine when he returned." Link smiled back at Malon as Talon simply chuckled.

"Well, having Ganondorf in your ranch like he was wouldn't put you at ease, let me tell you." Talon took another bite of the steak that Malon had prepared. Navi didn't join in for the conversation, but sat at the edge of Link's plate. She had a piece of corn in her hands and was taking her time devouring it.

"Did you find Tessa?" Malon asked as she grabbed the last plate, and realized that Tessa wasn't sitting at the table. She would have sat on Malon's other side.

"Yeah…I'm not sure she's in the mood to eat though." Link shrugged. "I don't know what's wrong with her though."

"Hmm." Malon pursed her lips and put the plate down. "Well, I have an idea…" Malon sighed. "She's had it kind of tough since I found her."

"You found her?" Link asked. Malon nodded in response and explained everything. "I think I put extra stress on her when I refused to do any work. From what I understood she had never worked on a ranch before she started here, and to suddenly be given all those duties…"

"Ganondorf did a number on her, if I remember correctly." Talon muttered. "It proved that she wasn't from Hyrule at least. She didn't seem to know the kind of power the man has. I don't believe he used a large amount of it either, no visible marks were on her."

"Of course he wouldn't kill somebody on the only ranch in Hyrule." Malon sighed. "Even he has more sense than that."

"That makes sense." Link frowned. Though it was hard to see, Navi looked up at the boy as she observed a thoughtful light in his eyes.

"Your own story is pretty amazing." Malon changed the topic. "I can't believe you've been asleep for seven years!"

"Yeah, it's pretty strange." Link agreed.

"So…how old does that make you?"

"Well…I was ten years old…a few months shy of eleven." Link sighed. "So I guess I'm seventeen now."

"A few months shy of eighteen then." Malon smiled. "Although, didn't you say that you were from the forest originally?"

"Yeah." Link nodded.

"I thought you said that the people there…umm…Kokiri never grew up."

"Well, that's pretty true." Link frowned once again. "I don't really get it myself. The only explanation I can come up with is that when I was asleep for seven years the Sacred Realm altered my form or something."

"That makes sense and it doesn't…" Malon murmured, which caused Link to look at her curiously. Navi ignored the conversation all-together as she finished the last bite of her corn. She stood up on Link's plate, though none could tell, and flew into Link's cap to rest off her full stomach.

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"I have no idea. Something just doesn't seem right about that explanation." Malon trailed off, deep in thought. "Although, being able to see all of Hyrule that most don't ever get to see must be nice."

"Well…it depends on how you look at it…"

"Hmm…"

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_I know, it's a short chapter. I couldn't think of what I wanted to right, so it probably turned out pretty bad. I ended it where I did because…I got lazy and I want to right the next chapter! And stuff. Please review!!_


	6. Preparing to Leave

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Six: Preparing to Leave**

"Hey." Malon's voice reached Tessa's ears, which caused the girl to turn her head in response. When she saw Malon her eyes widened and her mouth gaped before she bolted from her bench to hug Malon tightly. "Wow, you really were worried about me." Malon chuckled, and gently pushed Tessa away from her. She walked past the short girl and took a seat on the bench. Tessa was confused at this, but went to sit next to her either way. Silence maintained itself for a while before either of them spoke.

"Thank you, Tessa." Malon finally broke that silence with a smile. "You did everything for me, and you really didn't get much in return, did you?"

Tessa shook her head to dismiss Malon's trail of thought. "It was fine. I'm glad I got to help you. Nobody should go through what you went through."

"Tessa, you dealt with more than I did. You know that." Malon sighed. "You really did. You ended up here out of pure chance, and you haven't even seen the rest of Hyrule. I'm not sure that the ranch life is right for you."

Tessa felt shocked at Malon's words. "If I haven't been doing good enough…"

"No, you've been fantastic." Malon sighed. "I just think that you were meant for bigger and better things. You aren't from here, but there must be a reason that you were sent to this kingdom. I don't know that reason, and neither do you. You can't find that reason if you stay here for the rest of your life." There was a pause. "I believe that you need to travel to find your purpose."

"Malon…I…"

"I asked Link, he travels a lot. He also…has a strong purpose in Hyrule. I believe that he will free our kingdom from Ganondorf. Maybe he'll find the real princess and put her back where she belongs. I know you two haven't gotten off to a great start, but he really is a good guy."

Tessa stared at her hands. She didn't know how to respond to Malon's words. They shocked her to the core, but she didn't know how to break out of it.

"Maybe you'll find your way home if you go with him. You won't find out from this ranch."

* * *

Tessa frowned as she thought of what she would probably need to bring. She wasn't happy about travelling with the guy, but Malon had pretty much insisted. Actually, she threatened to kick Tessa out of her room if she didn't join Link on his quest. Confusion clouded her mind as she thought about what helping him might mean. She knew nothing about the history of Hyrule, its people, or its politics. From what she had understood, there was a lot of fighting involved as well.

"I'm just a regular person." Tessa stated to herself. "I can't help somebody like that…especially after what I said to him…and that fairy…" She heard a knock on her door and told whoever knocked to come in. Her eyes widened when she realized that the person was Link, though he looked apologetic. "May I help you?" Even though she felt guilty about her attitude towards him, something about him just kept on bringing it out of her.

"I wanted to say sorry about Navi…she's with Malon at the moment. I know it took a long time for us to get to Talon…"

Tessa eyed him for a moment before she continued to look around the room. She slowly took a big breath, trying to calm her nerves. "I guess…I'm sorry too." Tessa mumbled. Her ears caught Link's exhale of breath and she almost scowled.

"I know this is going to be strange…but…I hope we can grow to be friends." Link gave a slight smile before he turned around. "Also, Malon's ordering us to stay for the next week."

"Yeah, yeah." Tessa grumbled. Link closed the door behind him, and left Tessa to think. "I don't really have travel-suited clothes." She said to herself.

* * *

"Well…I really don't know much about warriors clothes…" Malon frowned as the two girls sat around the edges of the corral. "I'm good with a needle and thread, but I don't really know what would help."

"I guess I would need something…durable and practical. I don't know. I think this is more of a medieval era…with magic." Tessa ignored Malon's curiously confused facial expression and pondered her predicament.

"Well…I think I have an idea. You'll have to trust me, so can you?" Malon had a strange smile on her face, and Tessa felt goose bumps rise up the back of her neck.

Tessa gulped. "I really don't have anywhere else to turn to…so I guess…I do…" Tessa trailed off.

"I just want to know one thing…" Malon smirked. "What's your favorite color?"

The next week went by in an agonizingly slow manner. Link was becoming more tense with each passing day, and Tessa could tell that the guy would want to leave as soon as possible. She avoided both him and Navi at all costs. Tessa and Navi still didn't get along, and she felt weird around Link. Part of it was guilt for her temper, and part of it was that he gave off a presence that she didn't know how to handle. More often than not Tessa could barely be civil with him. She didn't understand why though.

Malon had once again locked herself in her room, but she would come out to do chores. Every time Tessa had tried to sneak into Malon's room to see what kind of outfit Malon was working on, she was quickly caught and scolded by the red-head. Since Tessa no longer worked at the ranch, Malon would not let her work, and neither would Talon. Ingo was unusually cheery, but Malon later explained that the man was just happy to be able to keep his job on the ranch after what had happened.

Finally the last day before they left finally arrived. Malon and Talon were set up for a big dinner that apparently they had forced Ingo to attend, much to Tessa's amusement.

"This is going to be like…a party. Link's going to start a great adventure from where he had…left off…" Malon apparently couldn't find the words to say, but was standing up in front of everyone to give a speech, a wine glass in hand. Tessa was eyeing the wine given to her warily, not one to drink underage, but she also assumed that there wasn't a drinking law in the kingdom. Link didn't seem to know what the drink was, and kept on sniffing it curiously. "Anyways, moving on, my father and I have a few gifts we would like to give you before you start!"

"First off, every good adventurer or traveler needs food." Talon grinned, and motioned to some previously unnoticed bags on the side of the room. There were a lot of them. "They won't go bad, we've made sure of that, and in order for you to carry them all I'm giving you some storage-style saddles that we've kept around. Don't feel bad about taking them, we never use them."

"Talon…that's a lot of food…" Tessa gasped.

"You'll need it all, believe me." Talon smiled. Ingo hiccupped his agreement as he drank more wine.

"Next, I'm pretty sure Epona will refuse to accept another rider on her back, so I'm going to give Tessa Tompton as thanks for her help these past few months." Malon smiled, but then glared at Tessa not to protest. "Also, I have spent a while working out your outfit…you can't run around Hyrule battling evil in a dress…or a skirt…"

Tessa had to agree with that sentiment.

"So, here we go!" Malon reached under the table and grabbed some red cloth. "It's basically styled after Link's tunic, since it seems to work well for him. Yours is red though…"

That wasn't the only difference. Malon had trimmed the bottom of the tunic, the short sleeves, and the neckline in gold.

"I also decided to use some spare leather I had around, and I made you a pair of boots. They'll go kind of high on you, I forgot when I made them that you were…umm…shorter than the average person…" Malon nervously giggled.

"Hmph." Tessa pouted, but then smiled. "Thank you, Malon. I really appreciate all of your effort."

"No problem…but let's get on and party!"

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Okay, I realize that I haven't put Link in very much, but I think that I'm going to go a very long stretch without seeing one of my favorite characters in the game (Malon) and I wanted to include her more. FINALLY we'll start the journey to save Hyrule in the next chapter!!_

_Yay!! Review please!!_


	7. Saria's Song

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Seven: Saria's Song**

The first day of travel started off with a plethora of farewells. Even Ingo, though Tessa still had hard feelings about the man, managed a small watery look in his eyes. Malon gave both Link and Tessa very long-lasting hugs. Talon brought out both of the horses, loaded with food and didn't say much as both of the adventurer's mounted their horses. With a quick farewell Link took off, and Tessa gave the three one final wave before encouraging her mount to follow Link.

Still not used to each other, silence continued for the first couple of hours of travel. Once in a while Navi would fly out and sit on Link's shoulder. She figured out that the fairy was whispering things into Link's ear, which he made noises to in agreement or disagreement to her statements. This put Tessa in a foul mood by the time the three stopped for lunch.

As Link reached into one of the bags for the food, Tessa realized that the food had been set up like meals, packaged separately. She wondered briefly how long the food would last between the two, but with a shrug she accepted one of the packages of food from Link and sat down next to Tompton, who grazed peacefully next to Epona. Whatever Tessa's feelings were about Link and his fairy, their horses would seemingly always get along.

"I'm not used to having an easy meal like this." Link broke the ice with the admission. Tessa finished chewing and looked at him curiously.

"So what did you eat before?" Tessa inquired. She noticed Navi eating a somewhat small grape. In a way she was cute, but at the same time Tessa was still wary around the being.

"Well, we usually hunted. There's a lot of prey around Hyrule if you know where to look…or if you just stumble upon it." Link took another bite before he continued. "So long as I had water I was fine. It doesn't take long to get from one place to another…maybe a couple of days on horseback. The village has plenty of food, so I never really worried about it."

"So…all of this food…isn't really needed?"

"This is a lot cheaper than buying my own food and it's very good." Link solidified his statement by finishing his meal. "I'll have to find somewhere to throw this away…" Link sighed, and a crumpled up the packaging. He stuffed it back in the bag and accepted Tessa's bag right afterwards. They mounted their horses again and went on their way.

"So…what is Kakariko Village like?" Tessa asked. Link frowned, and thought.

"Well…it's…you'd have to see it. It's not like Hyrule Castle Town was…it's…" Link waved his hand in the air, but failed to think of descriptive words. Slightly annoyed that he couldn't even describe a village, Tessa just asked a new question instead.

"Why are we going there exactly?"

"I was told by somebody that in order to get to the Forest Temple, I need something that can be found in Kakariko." Link didn't sound very sure of himself, and his explanation only confused Tessa more.

"Wait…what? Forest Temple?"

"I have to find the five remaining sages in their respective temples. The first one is one what I understand to be the forest temple, deep in the Lost Woods. You're not very familiar with Hyrule are you?"

Tessa shook her head. "I've only seen Lon Lon Ranch, and whatever I've seen on this journey. This seems to be a fairly used trail we're on…" Tessa pointed to the well-beaten path that Link had been using the entire time. They avoided using their horses on the path because wagon wheels had created tracks on either side of the road, and there were many other little problems with it. Malon must have used the path in order to deliver things between the village and the ranch.

"It's how I keep from being lost." Link admitted. "It's convenient."

"I see." And with that the conversation died. Part of her was still annoyed at Link, but part of her was glad that they at least had some sort of conversation. With a sigh, Tessa gave Tompton a pat on the neck. "So…how long did you think it take to get to Kakariko?"

"Well...as long as the weather stays good, we should be there at about sundown tomorrow." Link shrugged. Tessa nodded, and they continued on.

Eventually, Link turned out to be right. Except for a gray and cloudy sky, the weather stayed pretty well. Tessa enjoyed Hyrule's scenery, and realized that Hyrule's air was much cleaner than her own world's air. She supposed that came with lack of mechanics, but there had to be some sort of balance. What Tessa definitely missed by the end of their relatively small journey was the luxury of car seats, and the swiftness of vehicles all-together.

"I'm going to look like a bow-legged cowgirl." Tessa sighed to herself earlier as she observed the mountains. The one that she had found herself staring at the most was the one with flames that seemed to encircle the top, like a cloud. It was eerie, but at the same time there was a sort of beauty to it that was almost hard to understand. Once in a while Link would stare at that same mountain as well, but his expression was more disturbed than admiring.

"Just over this bridge, and there will be an opening in the mountains that will lead us to Kakariko." Link went over the bridge first. It stood a few miles away from what appeared to be some sort of castle, but Link explained that it was the protective wall around Castle Town, Hyrule's capital. There was a castle within it, but Tessa didn't get the opportunity to see it.

"Castle Town was a city, with cobble stone streets and stone buildings. I guess you could say it was a center of commerce."

Tessa raised her eyebrow at Link's usage of the past tense, but when she asked about it all she got in response was a solemn expression. This only made her have even worse feelings towards the guy. Briefly she wondered what would happen when he finally just pissed her off to the point of no return, but was distracted quickly by an odd site.

Up the side of one small mountain was a set of stairs, carved out. They seemed to be in pretty good shape, and curved off out of their sight. There were many of them, and it didn't appear that it would be friendly towards horseback riders.

"We have to walk our horses up there; otherwise they would get pretty damaged. It's a defense mechanism against invading armies."

"It's a pain in my ass." Tessa growled, and dismounted from Tompton. Link sighed and did the same. They gathered the reins of their horses in hand and began to slowly walk up the stairs. At this point it was midway through the second day of travel, and they didn't reach the actual village until just after sundown.

As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Tessa collapsed on the soft grass. Her legs felt wobbly from the time spent on the horse and from the immense walk up those ridiculous stairs. Link looked at her, obviously worried about her.

"I'm fine." Tessa growled when she saw his expression. After a couple of deep breaths she forced herself back onto her legs and waited for Link to take them to wherever they were going to stay. She hoped that they wouldn't have to spend another night on the ground her back was sore from that as well. In her mind she cursed Malon's suggestion to travel about fifty times over.

"There's a hotel just up the road here. We can walk there within a good five minutes." Link reassured her, but Tessa just grumbled back. Five minutes wasn't soon enough. When they finally reached the hotel Tessa felt dead on her feet. She didn't notice when Link took Tompton's reins away from her and let the horses roam in the corral after he had removed all of the tack. He grabbed her arm and brought her over to the counter.

"Um…I need two separate rooms for tonight." Link asked the woman over the counter.

"That would be five-hundred rupees." The woman said with a yawn. Link felt his stomach drop and realized he didn't have that kind of money, and Tessa wasn't in the state of mind to register anything he said to her.

"How about I get one room with two beds?" Link asked. The lady shrugged in response.

"All rooms come with two beds. It's the standard two-hundred and fifty rupees a night." The woman then looked pointedly at Tessa, of whom was about to fall over. "If you're worried about 

her, I don't think she'll care right now. I don't think she'd care if you shared the same bed, she's completely asleep."

Link blushed at the suggestion but paid the rupees for the room. Somehow he was able to get Tessa up the stairs and into the room. He left after he tried to tell her to change into the nightgown Malon had packed for her. After he made sure the horses were all right he went back up. Tessa was already under the covers and asleep. With a sigh he removed his tunic only to replace it with a night-shirt; he left his leggings on and climbed into his own bed on the other side of the room.

Navi sighed as she watched the two sleep. Tessa didn't appear to be too happy in her sleep, but the fairy really didn't care. She wasn't too fond of the strange girl and she doubted she would change her mind any time soon. Something about her just put Navi off, but she didn't know what.

She just hoped that the girl wouldn't try anything funny throughout the mission. Who knew if she worked for the evil king after all?

* * *

When Link woke up, Tessa was still asleep. He changed back into his green tunic and woke Navi up from her slumber on top of his green hat. It had become customary that before he went to bed he would curl up his hat for Navi to sleep on. "Come on, I don't want to wake her…let's start our search. If she wants to she can catch up with us some other time."

"All right." Navi yawned and flew onto his shoulder. Link placed the hat on his head and left the room. Tessa didn't even stir as he closed the door, but she was drenched in sweat, as if she was around intense heat. Nobody had noticed though, so she stayed that way.

In the village, Link sighed. Some people strolled around; they were on their way to work or doing chores around the houses. He could occasionally see a good person helping out their neighbor with something that couldn't be done alone. On his way up to the windmill that was towards the far end of town he passed by a new shooting range that had opened up sometime in the past seven years. He had already spent some time there when he was trying to think of a way to convince Talon to return to his ranch.

"This wouldn't be a bad place to live." Navi commented. "It lacks the trees, but it's open and the people are friendly."

Link nodded in agreement, though his heart twisted when he thought of his own house in the Kokiri Forest. His tree must be covered in excess weeds…and it must be filthy. Link looked at his hands and realized that he might even be too big for his old house. He was definitely too big for his bed there. A big part of him doubted that any of the Kokiri would recognize him, after all Kokiri weren't supposed to grow up to adulthood. They lived their lives as children for as long as they were healthy and well.

Sadness overwhelmed him, and Navi could sense it. She felt guilty for bringing up the forest, for it seemed to be a sore spot for the boy, but she didn't say anything to console him. Of course Navi had her own theory as to why Link had suddenly advanced seven years in appearance, but she certainly wouldn't tell him that theory. It wasn't exactly something she knew about anyway.

As Link finally reached the hill behind the windmill and sat, he surveyed the village. It really was peaceful, though it was much more crowded than he had first known it. Those who had survived the attack on Castle Town had turned to this village for support. However, they seemed to be accustomed to the lifestyle now, and seemed to enjoy themselves as much as they could under the dark shadow of Ganondorf's rein.

"So…" Link finally cleared his head of his thoughts about the past seven years, and remembered the Sheikah boy's words in the Temple of Time. "What would I need in order to reach the Forest Temple?" Link asked. Navi sat on top of his head and pondered the question as well. "Do you know where it is?"

"I have passed it on occasion." Navi admitted. "It was quite a serene place actually. It's where you and Saria would go to be alone, and not have Mido breathing down your neck."

Link's eyes opened wide at the mention of Saria's name. He hadn't even though of contacting her since he had gotten to this time. Quickly he pulled out the Ocarina of Time and put it to his lips. After a moment of trying to remember the right finger positions, Link finally played the rather joyful song. Saria's Song is how he remembered it.

'Link?' Saria's familiar voice asked in his mind. 'Is it really you?'

'Saria!' Link exclaimed in his mind.

'I can't believe…I thought you were…you've been gone for seven years…I thought you had…'

'I'm fine…I'm just…different…' Link thought with a grimace as he looked down at his body. He couldn't send a mental image to her, but apparently she caught on to his voice.

'You sound different…your voice is a lot deeper than I remember.' Saria murmured. 'Link, you have no idea how much we've all needed you at the forest. Do you remember that place where we used to play? That area where I taught you this song?'

'Of course I do!'

'It's…I'm heading there now. There's something wrong with it, I'm going to go investigate it soon. Please come and help!'

'I will, I promise.' Link said with strong conviction.

'I have to go now; I'll see you when you get here then.' Saria's voice sounded both relieved and anxious at the same time. After a brief goodbye the two ended their mental connection. Link slowly formed the image of the structure that hung high above their heads. Now that he thought about it, he wouldn't be able to get there with his own two hands, and he doubted that Saria could either. He hoped that none of the dangers of the Lost Woods got to Saria before he could get there himself, but first he had to figure out how to get there. He wished he had realized seven years sooner how important that building was.

"Navi…do you have any ideas?" Link asked. Navi just shook her head.

"I haven't got any. I'm sorry."

* * *

Tessa woke with a stretch and a yawn before she realized that she was sleeping in a very comfortable bed. She looked over and noticed that across the room was another bed that had been used not too long ago. "Oh…I guess we did end up at the hotel after all." Tessa yawned, and swung her legs over the side. When she stood up she did another stretch and took a step forward, only to fall flat on her face on the floor. "Ow!" Tessa whined with tears in her eyes. Her legs were completely sore as she remembered the past couple of days. "It'll be a miracle if I recover entirely." Tessa sighed, and pushed herself up. Tessa began to pull her nightgown off and noted that it was drenched with sweat, but she didn't know why. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she realized what she must smell like.

As she changed from her nightgown to her tunic she was suddenly struck with the realization that she and Link had shared a room. A blush encompassed her face and she put her tunic on as fast as she could. After she finished getting ready, she had made sure to bring a hair-brush for her hair. By now it had reached her mid-back and continued to grow. It was going to become a real pain for her to maintain pretty quickly, especially with travel. However, she was not thinking about that situation as much as she was about the room situation.

"I'm going to kill that elf-boy." Tessa growled, and left the room. She only remembered to grab the spare key at the last second. When she entered the village, however, she realized it might be a bit hard to find the guy.

All thoughts of anger vanished as she walked around the town. It was a genuinely nice place to be in. The elevation made it a slightly cooled off place to live, which was nice in the autumn atmosphere. Many people waved to her, and she waved back, even though she didn't know them. She lived in a small town where she had come from, and it was customary to wave at everybody you passed by. It was a way of being familiar and polite, even if you didn't know the person you waved at.

Tessa noted a large windmill up at the back of the town, and stared at it for about a minute before she lost interest with it and turned off in another direction. With a frown she realized that she couldn't read any of the signs that were posted up on the different stores and homes in the village. There wasn't much to read at the ranch, so she hadn't really bothered to learn the written language of Hyrule. Now she realized that it was something that she should have done in the first place.

"So…I think he's searching for something to help him…" Tessa frowned. She still didn't understand what Link meant by what he said, but she realized that just thinking about it wouldn't get her to know what the Forest Temple was like, or where it was. She had to search for something that might prove to be significant to Link, but what?

She spent most of the day looking around. Link was nowhere to be found, and Tessa found that she had gone in circles over and over again. One place that she avoided like the plague was the graveyard. The thought struck her that she might be disrespecting the dead, but she couldn't get over the fact that graveyards gave her the heebie-jeebies.

Then, she heard something strange. She had passed two guys who were by a tree about five different times, and they were always arguing about something or other. It wasn't until now that she actually heard what they were saying.

"I'm telling you I saw a ghost!" One of the men said. Tessa stopped and pretended to observe a flower that was growing out from underneath a rock, but watched the two out of her peripheral vision. The two men were twins, one wore a blue shirt and another wore a red shirt in order for others to distinguish them from each other.

"Oh? And whose ghost would haunt Kakariko? No war has been fought here in centuries, and even if there was, there aren't such things as ghosts!" The red brother scolded the blue brother. The blue brother did not seem to pay any mind to the other's harsh words but continued with his words.

"It was the ghost of that old sack of lump, Dante the grave keeper! He floated around moaning about some sort of treasure. I wonder what it could be!"

"It's a shit ton of lies, that's what it is!" The red brother yelled. Tessa took the opportunity to back away from the flower and leave, before they got even more heated and started to beat on each other. She refused to get caught in the middle of a brawl between brothers, or anybody for that matter.

"It's a long shot." Tessa admitted to herself, but looked at the sun. "I guess it's a shot worth looking at though. After all, this is a magical world. Why wouldn't something mystical be relevant, right?" After she looked to find the direction of the hotel, she began to head back. When she saw Link again she would tell him about what she had overheard.

Of course, she would wait until after she tried to kill him for the room set-up.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Yay!! I'm excited, I'm done with this, I can right about one of my least-favorite parts of the game. I HATE doing the race with Dante the grave keeper. It makes me want to scream every time I turn a corner. It's worse than the Shadow Temple in that respect, but I don't have to race through that._

_I'm so happy I got more reviewers now!! I want to thank all three of you for your support! Reviews are always loved by me!_

_All right, I might be able to get one or two more chapters out by or during tomorrow, but this next 4__th__ of July weekend is going to be pretty hectic. I know none of you really care, but I have a few reasons to love this time of year._

_TOMORROW which is July 3__rd__ will be the day I have been dating my boyfriend for two years, and I actually get to see him! He doesn't fly in until 10 at night though. He gets extended liberty for the 4__th__ of July because he is doing so well in the U.S. Navy right now. I am proud. He leaves Sunday morning. SO I'll be pretty preoccupied, and if I don't feel too over-emotional about not seeing him for another month or so (he's about 2,000 miles away) I'll post another chapter on Sunday. It might just have to wait until Monday though._

_  
So yeah, my life, nobody cares but I figure posting all of that is better than letting the reader's believe I have abandoned the story. I've been told a number of times that I've been written off as dead. Hmmm…_

_Oh well. Review please!_


	8. Distrust at a Graveyard

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Eight: Distrust at a Graveyard**

The graveyard at Kakariko Village was dark and gloomy, even more so than other graveyards Tessa had seen. At least the ones in her world were decorated with flowers and kept nice in order to make the families more comfortable when they went to visit their loved ones. Link seemed pretty tense around here too, and Tessa didn't understand until she saw a floating lantern up ahead on one of the path's they had taken.

"Stay back for this one." Link advised, and Tessa nodded. She jogged a few steps back and waited to see what Link would do. When he walked close enough Tessa noticed the air around the lantern shift, as if it was a dispelling allusion. When it had shifted enough a small ghost-like thing floated there. It gave a cackle and twirled around, but not before Navi started to float around it in order for Link to see it better.

Then it began to spin its lantern. Link readied his shield and the ghost dove for Link. The lantern hit the shield and went flying from the thing's hand, which gave Link an opportunity to slice it in half. The sound that erupted from it was like a combination of a screech and a wail, and Tessa winced at the sound. It dissolved into purple flame and rested at the bottom of the path.

"That was a poe." Link explained. "They lurk around…I'm not sure if they're ghosts, but they share a few qualities with them." He turned to Tessa and noticed her bulging eyes and shuddering body. "Tessa? Are you all right?"

"G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-host….ghost…" Tessa stammered. Her heart felt as if it was going to explode out of her chest.

With an annoyed sigh, Link put a hand on Tessa's shoulder. "It was not a ghost, it was a poe. Do you really think you can handle this?"

Tessa snapped out of it then and there. With a vicious glare towards Link she stomped off ahead of him, leaving Link confused. "I can handle it!" She growled, and only took a few more steps ahead before she stopped. Her fist tightened and her jaw clenched as she turned around.

"Which one is Dante's grave?" She asked. Link stiffened. He still did not understand her hostility towards him, but he realized that treading lightly around her would probably get her nowhere.

"Tessa…do you know how to read?" Link asked. The grave's had the person's name engraved on the front, with loving words around most of them. It was the entire reason that Link had gone through and scanned all of the graves.

"Just shut up." Tessa snapped, and crossed her arms. She refused to make eye-contact with him, and stood there until Link said something.

"You…don't know how to read?" Link repeated himself, but he was so astounded that he didn't realize that he had done it. Instead of shooting him a harsh glare again, Tessa refolded her arms and seemed to hold them tightly around herself.

"Drop it."

Link held his arms up in a gesture of surrender, but kept a look of interest on his face. Tessa didn't notice this, and waited for Link to go towards Dante's grave. Once he realized that Tessa wasn't going to say anything or move at all, Link pushed ahead. He scanned the graves, and it wasn't too long later that he found the grave.

"I'm not sure if this will get us anywhere." Link sighed, and sat on the ground. The grave looked untouched, it was covered in a layer of dust and dirt, and the weather had already affected the stone. From what Tessa could gather, there weren't a lot of people who really knew the former grave keeper, or cared to make sure his grave was respected and kept-up. "Nobody has even been around this grave for years…"

"Well, ghosts don't affect the environment around them…at least, the ones I've heard of don't." Tessa pointed out.

"Even so, I don't feel comfortable digging up somebody else's grave." Link frowned. "I think this entire thing was pointless. We shouldn't have come here. There must be some other place we can look."

Tessa couldn't help but feel that he was right. Part of her also felt like an idiot, and she immediately tried to remedy her mistake as she walked around the grave and looked for anything that might prove that she wasn't wrong. By the time she got to the back she was in a foul mood. "Damn it!" Tessa shouted and sat on the ground. Once again she crossed her arms. With a small sigh she leaned back. The grave began to move back as if it had a life of its own, and Tessa screamed. She jumped up onto her feet and stumbled forward away from the grave before she looked back to see the grave stop moving.

"What did you do?" Link asked, astounded. He was still on the other side of the grave, but his sword was drawn just in case of attack. Tessa eyed the sword with caution before she forced herself to look down to where the grave had been. A hole had somehow appeared there, and it looked like it was particularly deep.

"Umm…I think I found your way into the grave." Tessa said quietly, and almost moved farther away from it. Link raised his eyebrow and frowned.

"My way? Aren't you going to come with me?"

"No, I'd much rather stay here if it's all the same to you." Tessa made her point by crossing her legs in a sitting position and looking at him as if she expected him to disappear down the grave immediately.

"No way!" Navi zoomed from Link to flutter in front of Tessa's face. "You are not going to leave him to do this alone! Is this some sort of trap?" The glow around her went from its usual soft blue to contain a hint of red.

"Why would I set up a trap?" Tessa glared at the fairy. "I can't even fight! There's no good reason for me to go down that grave!"

"We'll see about that!" Navi suddenly whirled around to Tessa's back, and just as Tessa stood up and turned around to yell at the obnoxious fairy she felt a small pressure on her stomach. Since she was off balance she fell backwards with a scream and landed on the ground directly in front of the hole.

"Did you try and push me into the grave?" Tessa shouted. Navi shook with anger and whirled around Tessa.

"If you want us to trust you, you have to go first!" Navi screamed. Link watched all of this with a sigh and walked towards the hole.

"Well, there's one way to settle this." He muttered to himself and jumped down the grave. Navi screeched his name and dove down the grave after him. Tessa felt her face become red with anger and fury.

"Don't think this is over you stupid fairy!" Tessa stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. She looked down the grave and stuck her tongue out. When she was about to turn and leave she saw Malon's disapproving face appear in her mind. This image lasted only a second, but with a groan Tessa readied herself to jump down the grave as well.

For a minute she remained frozen as if she was about to give up right then and there, but she felt a really warm breeze push against her back. At first it was soft, and gentle, as if it was encouraging her forward. After a moment it got more and more forceful and Tessa was forced headfirst down the hole.

She screamed the entire way down as she felt her body spinning around and around as she fell. The fall seemed to last forever but ended abruptly when she landed on something firm yet soft at the same time. Tessa looked up to see a pair of blue eyes staring down at her expectantly. A blush ran up her cheeks and she shrieked as she pushed herself out of Link's arms.

"I told you she wouldn't leave us here." Link pointed out to Navi. Navi simply huffed and waited for Link to continue forward towards a ghost that seemed to be waiting. He floated in the air, a man with a large crooked jaw, no hair, and a hunched back. His small feet dangled a few feet from the ground.

"Well, are the three of ye ready to be talkin' to me?" He asked, his voice was amazingly high-pitched and cheery for his ghostly appearance. Tessa felt shivers run up her spine as she gazed at him, but Link just walked forward without a second thought.

"Yes. We were wondering if you had something that could get us to a high place."

The ghost seemed to crack a grin as he rotated a lantern in his hand to shine the bright light on the green-clad boy. "I believe I do have one of these things, but I ain't just gonna give it to ya!" He took a moment to cackle before he continued. "How about if you can get through a timed race through my grave tunnels and make it to the end before the last door closes, I'll give it to ya."

"Fine." Link said without a moment's hesitation.

"Umm…may I please go back up…I'm afraid I'm not very fast." Tessa asked as she finally stepped forward. It took all of her will-power not to shake or stammer, yet it seemed that she was unnaturally stiff.

"No. You must all make it through the last door. That's one of my rules! Oh…I guess I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Dante, the former grave keeper of Kakariko Village. And what are your names?"

"I'm Link. The fairy is Navi, and this girl is Tessa."

"Well then you three, let's begin!" Dante cackled, and flew forward with the lantern in his hand.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_I know, I know, it's short and I ended it at a weird place, but I really kind of got stuck where I was, and I figure I can start the new chapter off easier than continuing with this one, you know?_

_Sorry for the past couple of days!!_

_Oh, I love all of you reviewers! I think I have to explain the bed thing in the last chapter. Tessa was mad because it was a situation she was not used to, think of more like...she was highly uncomfortable and embarrassed . Her parents raised her differently than that. And Devylle, I loved your review! :) I love reading long ones, they provide a lot of information for me to consider when I write, which is ALWAYS a big help!  
_


	9. The Beginnings of Voices

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Nine: The Beginnings of Voices**

A series of pants could be heard as they vibrated throughout the labyrinth of Dante's grave. Sweat poured down the backs of Link and Tessa as they chased the ghost around. It was hard to keep up, and a couple of times they got set back because they would reach an obstacle that took more time than running did.

Their stamina also seemed to wear down with time, and Tessa was already far behind Link and Dante. "Hey!" Tessa shouted, but nobody seemed to hear her. She gave up with her shouts because they just drained her even more.

"_Do you need help?_" Tessa heard a voice whisper in her ear. She almost stumbled to a stop but realized that she had to keep on going.

"Help would be nice." Tessa grunted through clenched teeth, and suddenly her body felt warm.

"_Well, I think you should do this yourself, but if you got trapped in this place like an idiot you wouldn't be able to help the Hero of Time, would you?_" A new voice this appeared this time, and it sounded amused. Tessa had to shield her eyes for a sudden burst of red and green light, and she had to stop running in case she ran over the edge of a cliff without realizing it. When Tessa felt the light and heat die down she lowered her arm.

She stood in front of what appeared to be a sort of chest. She looked back, and saw a path that seemed to lead back to the maze, but where was she and how did she get there? Tessa was slightly disturbed, but shoved that feeling aside for the moment. She looked down at the chest once more and bent down to examine it. It seemed old, the wood was chipped in some places and the lock that was supposed to keep intruders away appeared to be broken. Tessa placed one hand on the chest and lifted it open. Within it was a strange contraption, but it looked to be something with a hook attached. A hook shot maybe? She frowned and lifted it out of the chest to examine it further.

It was pretty heavy, and Tessa immediately felt her arms shake from it. With a groan she put it down and closed the chest. She sat on it and waited for whatever was supposed to happen next.

"Hey…who are you guys anyway?" Tessa asked out loud. There was no response, and Tessa grimaced. Maybe she had a delusion of some sort, and just imagined the voices, or she had blacked out and kept on running. Was she lost?

Then she heard a slight cackle and some panting. She looked up and saw Dante the grave keeper turn the corner and float up the path to the room she was at. Tessa stood up, ready to run if she had to, though her legs shook with the effort of just standing there. Link rounded the corner not too long afterwards and Tessa saw the door that led to the path begin to slowly shut. "Link!" She screamed. "Hurry up!"

Dante made it through the doorway and simply stared at Tessa with a shocked expression. Link slid under the door and made it with a few seconds to spare, and lied there breathing quickly and heavily.

"Well…it seems the three of you made it after all." Dante tore his wide-eyed gaze from Tessa's form and floated to the chest. "This is the treasure I told you about. Congratulations!" And suddenly he began to disappear. "If you wish to race me again, just come and visit!"

Silence surrounded the three, and Link gave Tessa a weird look when he had recovered his strength. Tessa thought maybe they had been running for a good half-hour, and it explained why someone as lean and muscular as Link could be exhausted. "How did you get here so fast."

"I think I accidentally found a shortcut or something." Tessa shrugged, and moved away from the chest so Link could see it clearly. She dropped to the floor and waited for Link to go and get the hook shot. "That item should help though…if it is what I think it is."

Link stood up and opened the chest. He took a moment before he grabbed the hook shot, and lifted it with apparent ease.

"I think it will."

* * *

"Tessa, wake up."

Tessa felt a slight tug at her shoulders. With a groan Tessa opened her eyes to see Link. He had been trying to shake her awake, and from the frustrated look on his face it had taken a while for it to work. "How long have I been asleep?" With a yawn Tessa stretched and sat up in her bed to rub her eyes. Her eyes felt a little irritated.

"Just for a couple of hours, but it's daylight and we have to head on to the Kokiri forest." Link stood up straight again and crossed his arms as he waited for Tessa to get out of bed. However, instead of doing what he wanted Tessa simply re-collapsed on the bed and pulled the sheets over her head.

Her mind wandered as Link growled irritably. He soon left the room, after he stated that he was going to eat breakfast at the end of the hall. Tessa recalled hearing the voices during the previous night's adventure in the grave, and while she slept she had heard them speaking to her again. Now she could recall facts about certain aspects about the journey ahead of her, the different intelligent and unintelligent species in Hyrule. Maybe she had simply imagined it, but it was like they were preparing her for what lay ahead.

"Well...there's only one way to tell if I'm hearing real voices or not." Tessa stretched once more and sat up. As she rubbed her eyes with one hand she reached over to grab her daytime clothes. "If these things actually exist."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait. Do any of you remember when I said that I had a new laptop? WELL...here's the thing. Apparently I thought I had the Microsoft Office Word already installed on my computer, so I had been using it without typing in any sort of product key because I had never been GIVEN one. Well...as it turns out...I had been using it on a 60 day trial basis or something, so after I had typed about half this chapter, the next day it wouldn't let me type ANYTHING. And I couldn't get it to copy and paste onto the Notepad application (GRRR) so I had to retype the half. WELL that worked out, and I finished it, but apparently this site wouldn't upload it for some reason or another. I wasn't very happy._

_It was then I had the idea (days and days later of watching anime endlessly and planning my trip and preparing for college) to upload what I already HAD from Word and just type up the rest of story on the editor! I AM A GENIUS!! Until the life-period of this thing dies and I can't type any more chapters. At least my University allows free installations of Microsoft products when I move in. That's not until August 22. So until then I should be fine._

_What I'm trying to say is...I'm an idiot._

_HOWEVER, I want to thank all of you for waiting patiently. Apart from finally updating my FAFSA today, and occasionally watching Mermaid Melody (I watched a lot of shows...I finally watched most of Naruto, Rozen Maiden, Karin, and others because I have no life) I will be (hopefully) typing up more chapters. PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR THE WAIT!!_

_Like I said...I'm an idiot._

_Now let's hope this works, right?_

_I LOVE ALL OF YOU!! Oh, and sorry for the shortness also. I just figured I should get this chapter out and work on the next one right away, so that I'm not even later. Sorry!!  
_


	10. Getting Acquainted

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plotline I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Ten: Getting Acquainted  
**

They had left the Kakariko village soon after Tessa had gotten dressed and ate. She had never been a breakfast person, but breakfast would be important for the journey since they had little chance to stop to eat lunch. As she forced herself to eat and swallow a blueberry muffin, she observed Link's antsy behavior. He was obviously anxious to get to the Lost Woods.

As they traveled, Tessa reviewed what the voices had told her in her dream. In order to get to the Forest Temple in the Lost Woods, they would have to go through what was known as the Kokiri Forest. She hadn't heard Link mention anything about the Kokiri Forest, or the children within.

She didn't know how to explain that she knew more of the layout of Hyrule than she had before she had gone to sleep. After a few ideas debated themselves in her head, she realized that the simplest approach was the best. Tessa urged Tompton to draw herself up right next to Epona and Link gave Tessa a side glance; however he didn't say anything to her. She noticed Navi was sitting on his shoulder, and frowned briefly.

"Link...what should I expect?" Tessa asked. It had taken her a while to phrase that question in her head, but now it seemed relatively dumb. Link appeared thoughtful.

"Do you know what Kokiri are?" Link responded with a question. Of course, Tessa had been told what they were, but briefly. A basic image had been given to her, but no real details could be seen. So Tessa shook her said and told him that she had never heard of them. Link didn't look surprised, since he knew that she wasn't originally from Hyrule. "They're...well...you probably won't believe that I'm a Kokiri."

"So...they're...Hylian?" Tessa was now confused. That contradicted what she had been told. Maybe the voices were just her imagination running wild.

"Well...no. Not in the sense you see Hylians." Link looked up at the sky as he seemed to have a somewhat disturbed facial expression. "Navi...maybe you're better at this than me."

Tessa could hear a protest come from the small fairy. Link glared at the small fairy and the tiny creature finally groaned and flew from Link's shoulder to Tessa's. After a few more moments of grumbling Navi began her explanation. "Kokiri are children. They never age, and eventually...they don't die of old age because they become old. Just one day they...it's hard to explain."

"How long is their lifespan usually?"

"Well...if they die because of sickness it's different, and if they become Lost in the Lost Woods, it's a completely different situation." Navi sighed. The subject obviously depressed the poor fairy, and Tessa began to feel bad for pressing the little creature with her questions. "It's hard to say. I don't think it's ever been counted. It's a lot longer than a Hylian's lifespan. An old man is probably about 150 years of age."

Tessa's eyes widened and she turned her head to stare at Navi. "You're kidding..."

"Why would I be?" Navi asked pointedly. "It's actually a relatively short life-span compared to Zora and Gorons as well. It's almost pathetic."

Tessa frowned. She was surprised. Maybe it had something to do with genetics, but she had actually expected them to have a shorter lifespan than her because their technology was way below her own. "Does...does magic play a role in that?"

Navi began to sound suspicious. "Well...I would imagine. Why is that?"

"...No reason." Tessa grew quiet. She didn't feel bad for her own lifespan, but she was confused. She wasn't any expert at magic...after all everybody had a different idea of magic, but it didn't actually exist where she was from. However, it seemed to affect people for the better.

"Tessa...you're not Hylian...what about you?" Link asked. She could see that he had grown interested in the conversation. Navi floated back over to Link and sat on his head this time.

"Well...umm...it depends...keep in mind that we don't have magic where I am from." Tessa thought to herself. "Well...currently...it's at its highest...I've heard of people who could live up to somewhat past 100...but that's a stretch. I want to say their mid-80's, but I'm not really sure how accurate that is."

"That's it?" Navi gasped. She almost sounded horrified. Tessa nodded.

"Yeah." Tessa shrugged. "I don't really think it's a big deal, just so long as you live your life to its fullest." Tessa grinned. "In any case, I believe we're off-topic. Link...if Kokiri don't age...how come you have the appearance of somebody older than a child?"

"Well..." Link moved his eyes to stare at Navi, but she seemed to have disappeared under Link's cap. "I don't know."

Silence fell after that comment, but Tessa's mind was racing to ask questions. Eventually she had most of them answered, and found out more about Link than she had thought there was. He also began to ask her questions, and the trip seemed to go by rather quickly for the both of them. Link also began to relax greatly, and Navi had crawled out of Link's cap when he began to ask questions.

That night they had continued their conversation while they ate some dinner over a fire created by Navi. It seemed she could only create an initial spark, but after a few tries she had gotten the pile of collected sticks to burn.

The next day was more quiet. Tessa was surprised that her voice had actually grown to be a little bit hoarse from all of the talking, and she could tell that Link's voice was in the same condition. However, a little past mid-day they reached the edge of a lightly spread forest. Link entered without hesitation so Tessa did the same. As they continued in the forest grew to be more dense. However there were plenty of areas where the light shone through the leaves, and it gave the forest an almost mystical aura.

"We're pretty close to my home." Link told Tessa. Tessa nodded, but since she was behind Link, Navi, and Epona nobody saw the motion. She was slightly excited. The Kokiri sounded peaceful, and Link had spoken of the place so fondly that it was actually heart-warming. That was when Tessa stopped herself. Not too long ago she had been spiteful towards the strange pair ahead of her. With a frown Tessa searched her memory of the previous day. Maybe all they needed was to understand each other. She even got along with Navi better, though they still had their unknown grudges. Tessa rationalized that with their personalities, because she had known people who just clashed with each other. It might get better over time, or it might not.

That was about the time that Link dismounted Epona. Tessa blinked in surprise and looked on ahead. There was a wooden bridge that entered a tunnel. They couldn't go on horseback through the tunnel without getting knocked over. Tessa also got off her horse and grabbed the reins in her hands.

"After we go through that tunnel, we'll be in the Kokiri forest." Link explained. "It'll be dark, so try not to run into Epona."

"I won't." Tessa was firm with her statement. She knew that Epona would probably try and kick her, and so vowed to stay well behind the pair. However it seemed that Link had told Navi to float around the two and so that Tessa would be safe from harm.

It wasn't long before Tessa heard Link shout angrily. Epona reared ahead of her and bolted; Tompton decided to pursue Link's horse and the reins were ripped from Tessa's hand. One of Tompton's back hooves stomped on her foot and Tessa yelped. By the time Tessa had lifted her foot to get the pressure off Tompton was gone. She hopped around a little and leaned against the side of the cave. After a few more moments of what Tessa heard to be Link's sword slashing through something she heard footsteps. Tessa looked up to see Link and Navi headed towards her.

"Are you okay?" Link asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? What happened?" Tessa asked as she tested the weight on her foot. It was sore and slightly painful but Tessa believed that she could walk. Link observed Tessa's actions and he put her hand on his opposite shoulder.

"A deku baba startled me." Link shrugged. "They never used to be a part of the village...in any case, we have to walk now." Link helped Tessa limp towards the entrance. "If we can talk to some Kokiri, I'm sure some of their fairies will agree to heal your foot. The last thing we need is for you not to be able to walk."

"Well...technically I'm not sure what kind of help I can be." Tessa pointed out. As they reached the entrance again Link took a good look around; a frown formed on his face. "Link...everything seems to be overgrown..." Tessa murmured.

"There's nobody here..."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Now for the next one! I'm also uploading ALL 100 or more of my dad's C.D's onto his laptop because he bought an iPod for his stereo system, and it's kind of ridiculous. I'm also watching Youtube. Yay Youtube! Also...yay Disney, but that's just me. AmaterasuTao makes some pretty amazing Disney Music Videos. So I'm happy._


	11. Ambush

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here._

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Eleven: Ambush  
**

Tessa watched as Link stumbled ahead of her. He completely forgot about his attempt to help her walk and just continued to walk. His eyes were wide, and for a minute he reminded Tessa of a lost child. "Link...are you okay?" She decided to suck it up and began to limp towards him on her own. The adult Kokiri continued ahead on his own; his mind was consumed in his own shock. Navi also seemed to frantic with worry as she flew around Link's body with amazing speed.

"Where are they? Where are the rest?" Navi shrieked, and Tessa could tell that the fairy would have already flown off to find the Kokiri but had her duty to Link first.

"Link..." Tessa finally caught up with the two. Link still didn't respond, but only stared at the surrounding forest. Tessa frowned but took a moment to share the sight. He was right, there was nobody there. However, Tessa could see that the trees in the area were much thicker than where they had entered the forest in the first place. They seemed to have been cut in many different manners, and looked almost like homes.

"Nobody..." Link murmured. Suddenly he flew forward with the sound of a large bone-breaking thud. He screamed in pain, and Tessa looked to see what had hit him. Navi flew towards the area and Tessa could see the shape of a creature made of leaves and wood pop its head out of the grass. It hurled itself back and something flew out of its large O-shaped nose. Tessa fell to the ground to dodge it, and looked at Link. His leg had been hit pretty badly, but contrary to the painful sound nothing appeared to be broken.

"Link!" Tessa shouted. Link groaned and rolled onto his back. Tessa could hear the creature scurry towards the two of them in the grass and she held back a curse. "Link, get up!"

"I'm not sure how easy that will be right now." Link hissed, and motioned towards the leg that had been hit. Tessa glanced briefly and almost immediately felt nauseous. His kneecap had been dislocated. Tessa stumbled for something to do in her mind, and she saw Navi's form again appear from the grass. The thing was almost on them.

"Tessa, use his sword!" Navi screeched, and Tessa grabbed it without second thought. Fear drove her to stand up and run towards the area where Navi and the creature were. A nut soared just inches from her thigh and Tessa barely even registered it. The creature came in sight and Tessa raised the sword into the air before she brought it down on the thing's head. It squeaked so loud with its death that Tessa snapped out of her fear and registered a sharp pain in her hands. She immediately dropped Link's weapon and hissed as she examined her hands. They were heavily blistered and slightly swollen.

"What..." Tessa winced and Navi flew towards the girl's hands.

"The Master Sword is used to repel all evil..." Navi murmured. "It chooses its master, and I imagine that since it had chosen Link, nobody would be allowed to wield it besides him. Normally I would suspect you of being evil...but your arms would have been blistered too."

"So it's just persnickety, and now I have two useless hands and a useless foot. Link has a useless leg. We're shit for luck right now." Tessa growled.

"Link!" Navi gasped and flew over to him. Tessa grumbled and attempted to stand. She propped herself up on her elbows and put most of her weight on her good foot. It took some time but eventually she was able to stand and move towards Link. His fairy swirled around his knee and the bleeding was slowing down. Link lied on the ground with a frustrated look on his face.

"What are we going to do now?" Tessa asked, and fell down next to the guy. Link frowned and struggled to sit up. Navi protested his movement and Tessa used her elbow to keep him down. "You can't move, remember. I think Navi's trying to heal you."

"This will take forever if I'm the only one here to heal." Navi sighed. "I'm almost at my limit, and I'll probably have to rest also. Healing takes a lot of magic."

For another minute the three were quiet. Tessa faintly wondered where Epona and Tompton had run off to and whether or not they were okay. Link grumbled as he stared at the tree tops. Navi finally went over to Tessa's shoulder and sat, since the Hero of time lay on the ground.

"Link...I think I should look around and see if I can find any of the Kokiri." Navi finally spoke. "Is it all right if I leave you just for this?"

"Yes." Link attempted to nod his head. "I'm pretty sure that if we stay quiet there won't be any more Deku Scrubs after us."

Navi flew off, and Tessa fell to the ground. "Link...this probably isn't the time to say this...but I had to leave your sword."

"Why?" Link looked shocked. Tessa frowned and lifted her arm from the ground to show Link her hands. The swelling hadn't gone down, and her hands were still blistered. "Well...I guess it doesn't like other people using it."

"No kidding. Between my foot and my hands I'm pretty much a useless lump of fat and skin." Tessa resisted the urge to puff out her cheeks to prove her point. Her eyes widened when she heard Link begin to laugh. It wasn't a loud laugh, but the laugh was genuine. "What's so funny?"

"I'm imagining you as a lump of fat and skin." Link gave Tessa an amused gaze, and Tessa couldn't help but picture the scene. For some reason it turned out a lot like Jabba the Hutt from "Star Wars" and she couldn't help but laugh as well. After a moment Tessa stopped and breathed.

"I can't believe we're laughing about this." Tessa shook her head. "We just had our asses kicked by a living plant and here we are laughing."

"It's always better to laugh things off." Link grinned. "I should have been paying attention. Those things are relatively easy to kill. Some even surrender and tell you secrets if they're too afraid to die."

"Seriously?" Tessa asked. Link nodded, and with a grunt rolled over onto his front. He used his arms and his good leg to move himself forward. "Where are you going?"

"I need to get my sword back. Nobody else can take it, but I don't feel right without it."

"Well, I'm going with you." Tessa rolled over and stood more quickly than she had the last time, though she hissed when she put pressure on her hands. "I'll walk ahead and stand where it is. Though I am not going to touch that thing if my life depends on it."

Link nodded to show he understood and Tessa proceeded forward. When she finally got to the sword she sat back on the ground. She was pretty sure Link had seen her and she waited for the Hero of Time to get there. It took him a while, but he finally dragged himself there. He stopped the moment that the Master Sword was in his grip.

"I hope Navi finds somebody soon." Link groaned. Tessa nodded in agreement and looked at the tree tops. It was actually a pretty open space, but the trees that were around were incredibly dense. The sky could easily be seen, and any rain that fell would reach the ground without much trouble.

After a small while Tessa felt her eyelids start to droop. With a yawn she fell onto her back and closed her eyes. "This grass is really comfortable." Tessa murmured. She had begun to doze off a bit when she heard an angry shriek and sat up as quickly as she could. Link was already ready, as he had somehow managed to sit on his one knee and keep his bad knee straight out ahead of him. He had his shield on his right arm and his sword in his left. Tessa ignored her damaged hands and foot and squatted down behind Link with her back to him. "Link...what was that?"

"It was more Deku Scrubs." Link stated in a very quiet tone. "I think they're surrounding us."

"What gives you that idea?" Tessa hissed at a nervous pitch. "I can't hear or see any more of them."

"Look at the grass around us."

Tessa did as he said, and realized that not too far away the grass was moving, and the movement kept on growing closer. The girl almost broke out into an immediate sweat. She couldn't fight, especially not in the condition she was in now. Link was worse off, but at least he knew how to do battle.

'_I won't let you die._' The same voice from Dante's grave startled Tessa. Tessa looked back to see if Link had heard it, but he hadn't even twitched. '_Just trust me._'

"Trust you with what?" Tessa whispered. Her eyes kept to the grass. In a few moments it would part, and reveal who was coming.

'_I can only do this for a minute...but let me take over._'

"What?!" Tessa shouted. Link jumped, and the Deku Scrubs attacked. Deku nuts were hurling themselves towards the two, and Tessa felt a strange sensation. Time seemed to slow down to where everything almost stood still. A woman with fiery red hair and eyes appeared before her. She was beautiful, but at the same time the air around her was almost frightening.

'_That wasn't a smart move._' The voice seemed to come from the woman, and she looked around. '_Now, I'm taking over whether you like it or not. You'll thank me for this._' The being bowed her head for a moment and stepped forward into Tessa's body. Tessa felt herself being pushed to the back of her own mind, and could only see and hear what happened afterward.

As far as she could tell, her body hadn't changed, but the moment the body was secured by the woman time sped right back up. The woman in Tessa's body slammed the ground with her fist and somehow flames sped up around her and Link. The flames acted as a shield and incinerated all that flew towards them. She then made the flames expand around them and they engulfed some of the Deku Scrubs in flame. When the fire stretched out to its limit she drew the fire into hand and made it into a tightly compacted ball. She shot her hands forward and split the flame in two as it gushed out. As she spread her hands the flames moved to where the palm faced. Link didn't seem to question what had just happened at the moment, and waited for any of the little monsters to become brave enough to face any of them.

Tessa felt herself begin to take over, and the woman cut off the firepower. She simply smirked and stood in a relaxed pose. 'That's all I can do for you. Let's hope fate has a kind heart.' With that the woman's presence disappeared completely and Tessa moved her own body around to make sure everything was all right. When the woman had used Tessa's fist she had cracked a knuckle, but other than that everything was in the same condition it had been before the possession.

"What happened?" Link asked. He gave Tessa a wide-eyed glance before he continued to watch the frightened Deku Scrub.

"I...I don't know." Tessa admitted. She was terribly confused as to what had happened, but that wasn't the thing to worry about now. The Deku Scrubs seemed to realize that Tessa didn't have control of fire anymore and were beginning to start forward again. Since the fire had burnt all grass it could reach Tessa could see a better estimate of how many enemies there were overall. Whoever it was that had possessed her body had also made sure to take all of the flame away so that the fire would not get out of control.

"Can you still make fire?" Link asked hopefully.

"No...I'm sorry." Tessa felt tears well up in her eyes as the let the fright of the situation settle in. "I...what can we do?"

It was then that sounds of battle reached their ears. Many Deku seemed to running away now, and the sounds drew closer. The grass parted once again to show a group of what appeared to be small children wielding sticks and nuts. The occasional child had a slingshot in his or her hand. They all wore similar clothes to Link, and Tessa realized that these children were Kokiri. One of them headed straight for the two. "We're here to help."

Tessa felt so relieved she dropped face-first onto the ground, out cold.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_WELL here's the next chapter. This was actually fun to write. I debated a few different ideas of how to work this scene out, but I'm happy with what happened. For those who have read the original, I'm making the Goddesses take a more active role here. I figure they're cool and should be given credit and all that jazz. So yeah. I love you all! Time for bed!_


	12. The Kokiri Tribe

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Twelve: The Kokiri Tribe**

It hadn't taken even half a day for the wounds on either Tessa or Link to heal. As soon as they had the Kokiri led them to one of the houses nearby. Tessa had only passed out for the duration of the healing process, but as soon as that was done it was like she woke up magically, while Link had stayed awake the entire time. The Kokiri led them to a couple of chairs in the tree house and tried to make them sit down. However, the chairs were uncomfortably small and if they stood they hit their heads on the ceiling, so they opted to sit on the ground. Link looked around as if he was astonished to see everybody he knew exactly the same as he had left them, though as time grew his facial expression seemed to grow more disturbed. The Kokiri began to gather as a group in front of them, and while they waited Tessa finally decided to lightly elbow Link's side for his attention.

"What's wrong?" Tessa murmured.

"I don't think all of the Kokiri are here anymore." Link responded. Tessa realized then that some of the Kokiri must have died in the past seven years, although by what means she was unsure. However as she also looked at the small children she realized that most of them had war-hardened facial-expressions that she'd seen on adults in her own world. These people had been through a lot of pain.

One of the Kokiri walked up to them. He had bushy golden hair that covered his eyes and plenty of freckles, and walked around with almost a playful swagger, but he looked just as serious as the rest of them. "Who are you and why are you here in our forest?" His tone was hard. Obviously they helped them because of Navi, who sat on Link's shoulder.

"We are here to help you." Link answered. Tessa noticed that the deliberately left out their names, and wondered why he didn't tell the Kokiri who he was. After all, he knew them very well.

"Why are you dressed up as one of our own?"

"This is just a clothing style I like. It's practical for travel and for any encounters I have with Ganondorf's monsters." Link shrugged. Tessa looked down at her own clothes. Link's outfit was more distinctively like the Kokiri, but Tessa's had obvious differences. However, it could pass for a Kokiri tunic if she were a child, and if it was green. "Are you...are you the leader of the Kokiri?"

For a moment the boy was unsure how to answer. The facial expression gave away his uneasiness at the question. The fairy seemed to stare at Navi for a moment before she whispered something into the boy's ear. He gave the fairy a questioning look, and the fairy seemed to reassure him. "No. I am standing in for our leader, Mido. He went with one of our others, a Kokiri named Saria, into the Lost Woods. She seemed to believe that our troubles could be solved if she went to the Forest Temple."

Link's hands tightened on his knees. "May I see if I can help them?" Link asked. Tessa noticed a subtle waver in his voice. He had told her that Saria was his childhood friend, so he must have been desperate to reach her.

"Are you sure you aren't one of the Dark King's minions?"

This time it was Navi who flew up to speak. "I'm one of the fairies that protect the Kokiri. I have been sent to this person for a reason. Of course he isn't one of Ganondorf's minions!" Her voice sounded almost angry, as if she had been insulted by what the boy had said.

"Well...I suppose. You will have to find your own way though. I can't risk any more of the Kokiri out there."

* * *

"We'll be headed to the Lost Woods." Link told Tessa as they checked their horses for any signs of harm. The Kokiri had somehow managed to catch the them, and Link told Tessa to follow him. They had followed a route that somehow led to what Link told her to be his house. It was unlike the other houses in that the entrance was not at ground level, but at a ladder. There was a sign with the same strange letters that had been on the graves at Kakariko. Link tied the horses there.

"I don't think the monsters care too much about horses, but we can't risk them while we got through the Lost Woods. It's dangerous."

"You know the way though, right?" Tessa asked. Tompton was perfectly fine, except that she seemed especially skittish after what had happened with the Deku Baba.

"I did...but the Lost Woods...I told you how they shift. For all I know, the temple might have shifted as well." Link seemed ready to go, but Tessa remembered to grab a few packs of food. She wrapped them securely over her shoulder so that they hung like a backpack did. "We're not leaving until tomorrow. If you would like, there's a bath area I can lead you to."

Tessa looked at Link as if he was the greatest person alive. She would give anything for a bath, and didn't mind if he knew as much. Link told her to leave the food there and he led her to an area that was sheltered by very thick trees and brush. Some of them reminded Tessa of weeping willows.

"That's the girl's bath. I'm sure if there are any Kokiri there they won't mind." Link then left Tessa alone. For a moment she was scared she would get lost on the way back, but when she pushed through the leaves she saw a hot spring that seemed uncharacteristic in the forest. A few Kokiri girls seemed to stare at her for a moment, unsure, but then one of them that Tessa recognized to be the girl that had come up to them during the attack waved Tessa in.

"Don't worry about your clothes, we're all girls here."

Tessa nodded and proceeded to strip down until there was nothing left and stepped into the water. At first it was so hot it brought tears to her eyes upon contact, but she got used to it and settled down. She kept her distance from the Kokiri, but the girl decided to include Tessa in and swam over to sit next to her.

"So, what's your name?" The girl asked. The other girls seemed unsure, but followed the girl's lead and swam over to surround the stranger.

"I'm Tessa."

"That's an unusual name." The girl giggled. "I'm Chiena."

The other girls seemed unwilling to give their names, however Tessa found that they were friendly once a conversation started rolling. Tessa found out some useful bits of information of the forest around her, and one of the things she found interesting but scary was that there were some leaves that were very sharp, even just around the spring.

"We don't cut them because that usually ends up in some nasty cuts. I suppose if we went for the stems they're softer but nobody really likes to do that much work unless they have to." Chiena chirped as she showed Tessa the plants.

"I suppose they could be used for other things..." Tessa murmured and reached for one. The girls were astounded as she carefully plucked one leaf. "It wouldn't be useful for you...but for me..."

* * *

Link had found that none of the boy Kokiri were in their hot spring, and so it took a relatively quick time for him to scrub off all the dirt. He had left a while ago, and it seemed like forever until Tessa came back. She had stayed in the hot water so long that she looked like she was supremely burnt. Her hands were even still pruned, but the girl was as happy as Link had ever seen her.

"Do they not have dirt where you're from?" Link asked. Tessa laughed and sat down on the floor of Link's small house. She brought out a bag of what appeared to be leaves.

"Of course they have dirt, I'm just more pampered about keeping clean than your average person in Hyrule." Tessa giggled a little as she brought out one of the leaves and stared at it. Link almost choked when he saw that it was one of the sharp leaves that many of the Kokiri intentionally left alone.

"What are you doing with those?" Link asked warily. "Are they going to be your weapons? I have to tell you, that's not a very good idea."

Tessa raised her eyebrow at him. "Of course not! They're for shaving. I don't suppose you shave...you're around my age..."

"If you're talking about beards...I've never had one start up." Link shrugged. Tessa blinked, completely amazed, and began to grumble about how life was unfair.

"Well...just keep them from injuring the horses." Link shrugged. Tessa nodded, and shoved the bag off to the side.

"So...are you sleeping on the bed then?" Tessa asked. Link shook his head.

"I'm too big for it now." Link frowned. "I suppose you could...you're short."

"I am not short!" Tessa snapped. "In any case...it's too small for me too."

"Well...I guess you're right.

The next morning the two set off for the Lost Woods, and only Chiena came to see them off.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_To be honest, I had no idea what to write for this chapter, so I think I let my own thoughts lead me off. My own thoughts were that as soon as I got this done I was going to take a shower. It's probably where I got the bath scene from. And I know it's short, but I figured...it's a chapter, and the Kokiri should get more credit than I've ever given them._

_Seriously though, think about it. I suppose Kagome from 'Inuyasha' brought along her razor or something, but I would be pretty grossed out by myself if I had no means of shaving. As for shampoo...I guess they have it in his world automatically, because greasy hair is probably worse in some ways._

_I'll write the next chapter more interesting, I promise! Like I said though, I had NO idea. I think I've had twenty different scenes for the opening I had written out, but I never liked any of them._


	13. An Enchanted Forest

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Thirteen: An Enchanted Forest  
**

"The biggest thing you have to remember is to not get separated. Nobody can go through this forest and survive without a strong sense of magic." Navi instructed both Link and Tessa as they began to head through the Lost Woods. Tessa kept her ears on Navi but let her eyes dart all around her. In a way the area was both beautiful and terrifying, as if it had a mind of its own. The trees ranged from thick to thin, and appeared to subtly shift before her very eyes. "Since I am a magical creature, and a native of the Lost Woods, you will have to stick by me. Otherwise you will be changed forever."

Tessa nodded to show she understood and continued to stare at her surroundings. "Navi...what happens to you if you get lost here?"

"Well...Kokiri are said to turn into Stalkids. Link's met quite a few of them. They're friendly enough, but they're just..." Navi shuddered. "As for Hylians...I guess you would fit into that category...you would turn into a Stalfos."

Link frowned and looked up at Navi. "What's a Stalfos?"

"It's a skeleton of sorts..."

For a moment the two were quiet. It was a rather disturbing image, and Tessa began to move herself directly under Navi as she walked. However, as they began to head deeper into the forest she noticed a cheery tune that seemed to come from the forest itself, not just any one source. "What's that song?"

"It's...Saria's Song." Link answered. "If Saria is here she will play it to make the Lost Woods happy, but if she's not here the forest will play the song on its own."

"Wow...this is incredible..." Tessa was breathless. She had never expected that a forest could play its own music. For some reason it made her relax slightly to where she partially forgot her fear of turning into a Stalfos. The two remained silent as Link began to think about his memories with the Kokiri girl, until he looked at Tessa with a slight grin on his face.

"I know a story that will interest you. It was something the Deku Tree told Saria and I when we went through the Lost Woods. Mido found out and told the Deku Tree that we were playing games in the Lost Woods." Link smiled at the memory, and Tessa looked up with a curious expression on her face. "He had us sit in front of him, and the rest of the Kokiri were gathered around us. This was before I had Navi...he told us of a tree in the Lost Woods known as the Baku Tree. It did awful things to Kokiri and hated the Deku Tree and those he guarded with a vengeance. The Stalkids are said to serve under the Baku Tree."

"Was this true?" Tessa asked.

"Well, Saria and I went to check that theory." Link grinned. "We never really listened to what the Deku Tree said, except for absolute rules that told us to never leave the forest. But...we found a Stalkid. It was playing a sort of flute. He didn't get along with us at first, I think he was scared. But Saria came up with an idea and pulled out her ocarina. She played her song and for some reason the kid really liked us after that. We would play with him once in a while. Right after we became friends with him we asked him about the Baku Tree."

"So was he real?"

"Not at all. It was something the Deku Tree made up in order to scare us."

"Have you talked to him since then?"

"After I started my adventures Saria started to visit the Lost Woods less, and I think Mido got a little more controlling with the rules. But...I remember I had gotten a mask that I had wanted to give to him. It was a skull mask, kind of creepy. But one of the things that the Stalkid said he envied was our faces. He...doesn't have a face. I gave him the mask...and I haven't seen him since."

"That's a sad story." Tessa admitted.

Link shrugged. "There's a lot of people that I haven't seen in the past seven years. I'm sure if I searched I could find him. He probably wouldn't recognize me though."

The three continued in silence. Link and Navi seemed pretty sure of the way they went, but Tessa was too scared of losing Navi and Link and becoming lost that she didn't really pay attention to the route so much as where those two were. She never strayed far from them.

"I hope this doesn't take all day. The last thing we want to do is be here after dark." Link frowned and looked up at the trees. "It's not a good place during the day, but during the night it has to be completely dangerous."

"Wait...I thought you and Saria played here all of the time."

"Well...yeah. We were careful though. We also knew the route to the area we played at like the back of our hands. I just hope that the route is the same as it was before."

That was when they saw a small figure in shadows up ahead. Link motioned for Tessa to be careful and drew him sword and shield out from behind his back. She went behind Link's back and almost cursed herself for not being able to fight. After a moment Link stopped and went to draw something else that he had tied to his back. Tessa had never noticed it before but he seemed to have a second sword, much smaller than the Master Sword. "I don't know if you know anything about how to use it, but it's better than nothing." Link handed the weapon to her, and Tessa took it with a word of thanks. She strung it around her torso just like Link had his own sword and drew the weapon out. "It's the Kokiri Sword."

They continued cautiously towards the figure. It seemed to dart behind the tree. Tessa felt adrenaline shoot up her spine from how scared she was. The Kokiri couldn't help them where they were now, and they couldn't afford any massive injuries.

However her thought process couldn't continue in that direction. The figure came out shouting from behind the tree with a stick raised. Tessa was so stunned that she stopped walking. Even Link had let his guard down for a moment before he brought his shield up. The stick crashed and snapped in half on the shield, and the figure fell to the ground with a grunt.

Tessa looked around Link's shield to see another Kokiri. He had blond hair and a massive amount of freckles on his face. The kid scowled and kicked Link's ankle, though the action did not seem to affect Link. However, the guy stared down at the Kokiri with a shocked expression. "Mido?" Link's voice amplified his expression. "What are you...?"

"How do you know my name?" The Kokiri, Mido, shouted, and jumped back away from Link and Tessa. Navi hovered in the air for a minute, unnoticed, before she went and hid in Link's cap. Link did not wish for the Kokiri to know who he was, and Tessa figured that the fairy that swirled around Mido would recognize her and tell Mido exactly who he was.

"I...the Kokiri told me." Link trailed off at the end of his sentence. "Where's the girl who was with you? Where is Saria?"

"Why should I trust you? You'll just bring more monsters out to kill my people!"

Link seemed almost stung by Mido's accusation. "I'm a friend. There's no reason for me to work with Ganondorf. We're just trying to your people!"

"Prove it!" Mido took a defensive stance with the broken stick against Link and Tessa. Tessa sat on the ground with her legs crossed. This confused Mido until he realized that she wasn't going to participate in the fight. Link didn't move forward to attack, but he didn't take a stance either. He stood there as he tried to think of a way to get Mido's trust without revealing who he was.

That was when Tessa was struck by an idea. She stood back up and walked over to Link. The girl had to get him to bend down so that she could whisper in his ear. "Link, what about Saria's Song...do you know how to play it?"

Link didn't answer but immediately dug into his pack and brought out a beautiful purple ocarina. He put it to his lips and began to play the tune. The melody of the Lost Woods died out but the ocarina took its place. Mido relaxed considerably, though he still had a distrusting glare. After a few times through the song Link stopped and looked at the Kokiri expectantly.

"You...you must be one of Saria's friends." Mido muttered. "Are you really going to help her?"

"Of course I am." Link answered, and lowered the ocarina.

For a minute the two stared at each other. They were silent, and Mido's expression only got harder and harder. When tears sprung the Kokiri's eyes both Tessa and Link were shocked.

"I...I..." Mido sat on the ground and wiped both of his eyes with his arms. "You remind of that jerk. Link ran off out of the forest, though the law forbade it. We always fought, and I accused him of killing the Deku Tree. If he had the ability to grow up...you would be him." The kid began to cry harder, and Tessa didn't know what to do with him. Link seemed just as dumbfounded as Mido. "Why did that jerk leave?" Mido asked the two. "If he hadn't...he would still be alive!"

For a minute the two let Mido cry. His fairy tried to comfort him but he took no notice. Navi poked her head out of Link's hat to see what had happened. Then Link bent down and put a comforting hand on Mido's shoulder.

"I'm sure that Link had his reasons, and that you had nothing to do with how he left."

Tessa noticed that Link felt strange when he talked about himself in third person. Mido slowly calmed down and looked Link in the eyes. For a few minutes they stayed like that, and then Mido got up off the ground.

"All right. I believe you." Mido wiped his face on his arm again. Tessa almost grimaced at the wet slippery sound. The kid obviously had to go clean up. "If you promise to find Saria, then I will return to my tribe."

"I promise that I will do everything within my power to find her."

* * *

After they had left Mido the three began to head towards the Forest Temple again. Link was deep in thought, but Navi murmured some comforting things to him and his mind slowly eased off the encounter with Mido. However, it went immediately into worry that they were not headed in the right direction, which didn't make Tessa feel good at all. It took them about an hour before Link began to feel more confident about where he was headed. Finally they reached a small clearing that had what appeared to be walls that surrounded it. One entrance led to the next path that Link believed they should take.

"The first time Saria and I were here we encountered a wolfos." Link told Tessa.

"What's a wolfos?" Tessa asked, but at the same time she had an idea of what one might look like. "Is it anything like a wolf?"

"Maybe. It's like a wild monster dog." The guy explained. Tessa nodded to show that she understood. "And if I remember correctly...there are some Deku Scrubs who live past this area, so we'll have to be careful."

Together the three approached the wall. Navi peeked ahead of the wall before the other two to check to see if the coast was clear. "I think everything is okay."

Link was the first to step into the pathway, and Tessa followed close behind him. The two continued quietly down the path. Tessa noticed that Link seemed much more sure of his way this time around, and was more confident with his route. They had gone through three paths and not encountered a single foe.

"What happened to all of the Deku Scrubs?" Link asked himself. As he rounded the next corner a loud roar sounded off behind him and Tessa. Tessa swirled around to see a monster that ran towards them. It carried a giant spear in its hands and was covered in armor. With a scream Tessa dove into the next corridor where Link was and Link seemed prepared to take the monster on. Instead of his sword he pulled out the hook shot that he had received in the Forest Temple. He quickly turned the corner and shot the hook out. It embedded itself into the monster's leg and the monster gave a giant roar of pain before it crashed to the ground. Link let the hook shot go and jumped on top of the monster. He drew out his sword and stabbed it through its neck. The monster wriggled for a few more seconds and died.

Tessa walked up to the monster. It looked like a giant brown bulldog that was physically oriented to walk on its hind legs. "That...is really disturbing." Tessa skirted around to come next to where Link worked on his hook shot. It was pretty secure in his leg, and Link had to use plenty of physical force in order to make the hook come out of the monster. "Have you ever seen a monster like that?"

"No." Link finally fell back as the blood-covered hook came out. Tessa just barely managed to catch him under the arms, but he righted himself quickly afterwards. "This must be one of Ganondorf's monsters. It explains where the Deku Scrubs had gone off to though."

"You mean the Kokiri Forest?"

Link nodded his response. "I'm not sure if there are more of these, but we have to be supremely careful."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_MY GOAL: To get to chapter 18 by FRIDAY! I have a totally good reason for that!! Because...Saturday is my birthday, but on Friday I leave to go on a trip to South Carolina to see my Navy sailor!! I am excited. Well, it will also be my 18th birthday, so I figure that 18 is a good number to stop on. I'll bring my laptop with me of course, but I don't know if I'll have internet access at the hotel. It is yet to be determined._

_I had a few trouble spots with this chapter. At first I forgot to include Saria's Song around the forest, which is mentioned a lot in the game. I had also forgotten that Mido was in the forest. Apparently I forgot that in the first version of this story also. Yay for me being dumb!_

_Oh well._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	14. The Giant Moblin

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Fourteen: The Giant Moblin  
**

"We're almost there..." Link advised Tessa and Navi. The fairy sighed and collapsed on Link's head. It had taken longer than any of them had predicted to reach the Forest Temple. As Tessa looked up at the sky she could see a faint tint of pink start to spread through the sky. They hadn't been around many trees at all so the skyline was clear straight above them, but the walls impeded any sort of distant viewing. "Around the next corner there should be a set of stairs that head through the wall. There will be a stretch that will probably have another dog monster."

Navi coughed. "I think they're called Moblins." The fairy corrected him. Link shrugged and peeked around the corner. After a minute he signaled that the coast was clear and they darted towards the stairs. As soon as they turned the corner around them they collapsed and breathed hard. Tessa wiped the sweat from her face.

"So...hopefully we won't see another one." Tessa muttered. Link nodded and waited a few moments to stand back up. She followed his lead and Navi cautiously flew up the stairs ahead of them. "How will we know if she sees anything?"

"She'll turn red." Link frowned. "Navi has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. I'm not sure entirely how powerful she is, but what she has is very useful."

Tessa almost smirked as they continued to walk up the stairway. "I could send her flying for miles with a flick of a finger. I don't care if she's powerful or not, she's still tiny. Size trumps everything."

"You would know from experience then?" Link smirked at Tessa who glared at him.

"I am not short!"

Link didn't pay attention but frowned up ahead. Tessa rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at what he frowned at but saw that Navi's glow had indeed turned a bright red color. She zoomed towards them and halted inches away from Link's nose. "There's another Moblin...it's the biggest one we've encountered yet!"

"They get bigger?" Tessa asked incredulously.

Navi swirled around Link with an alarmed waver in her flight pattern. "It's twice the size as the others!"

"Is that even possible?" Tessa asked. Her voice had wavered from the fright that she felt.

"Well obviously, if I just saw one!" Navi snapped at Tessa. Tessa stuck her tongue out at the fairy and felt herself slow to a stop on the staircase. Link didn't notice for a few seconds, but when he did he stopped and turned to face her; a curious expression decorated his face. For a minute Tessa didn't reply to him, but when she noticed that Link and Navi were giving her weird stares she planted a determined look on her own face and marched right on past Link.

"Are you okay, Tessa?" Link asked. He caught up with her in no time. It wasn't that long until they reached the top of the stares.

"Of course I'm okay! I mean, here I am with absolutely no fighting ability, and up there is a gargantuan monster that will probably chew me up and spit me out as a light snack. Everything is perfect!" The sarcasm that dripped from Tessa's words sent chills up Link's spine, but her expression stopped everything he had thought to say. Tears were just barely visible at the corners of her eyes.

"You've been fine up until now." Link patted Tessa's shoulder. It had taken him a moment to unfreeze himself. "If you want to know something, when I started out I had absolutely no experience with weapons or fighting and I had no other fighters to help."

Tessa's eyes widened. "Are you for real? I thought you had trained with swords your whole life."

The Hero of Time nodded, a slight grin on his face. "As much as staying in the forest overnight freaks me out, we need to stop for the night before we go into the Temple anyway. I don't trust going into a place that is probably more dangerous than the Lost Woods at night." Link reached back for his sword as she started to walk forward again. "If you would like, I can start to teach you how to use that sword properly. I will have to find you a shield somewhere though."

Tessa almost smiled, and jogged up the stairs after him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, we should get rid of that Moblin." Link stated as they reached the top of the stairs. What they saw made both of them gasp. Navi simply began to shift into her red state again. The Moblin was just as big as Navi had told them, and instead of a spear it carried what appeared to be some sort of giant club.

Navi zoomed forward. The Moblin glanced at her briefly but just grunted and left her alone. The fairy cautiously flew around the dog's body, careful to avoid too much attention from the monster. After a while she zoomed back to them as fast as she could possibly fly. "Its entire body is pure muscle. I don't think that just attacking it will work." Navi informed Link. "I noticed that it shifts its weight constantly though. All of its weight must be hard on its ankles. If I were you I would aim there and try to get it to fall."

Link nodded to show that he understood. He looked at Tessa and pointed at her sword. Tessa gulped and drew out the Kokiri Sword from its sheath and held it ready with her right arm. Link held the Master Sword in his left arm and his shield in his right arm.

"On the count of three we charge. Avoid its club at all costs and swing at the ankles." Link instructed Tessa. The girl nodded and for a moment the two were quiet as they prepared charging stances. Tessa could feel her heart pound in her chest. Technically this would be the first battle she would go into. She still couldn't explain what had happened with the Deku Scrubs, and she knew it wasn't her that had produced all of that flame. It would take a lot for her to be able to think straight throughout the battle and not panic. "One." Link began. Tessa rubbed her hands on her tunic briefly. "Two." The trio seemed to gulp in unison. "Three!"

Tessa bolted forward as if she had heard a gun shot as her feet. She raised her sword up. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. The Moblin didn't seem to be surprised that there were two people charging him, but seemed almost bored. It raised its club and brought it down with a magnitude of force. With a jolt Tessa felt the earth shake before she went flying back. Link landed a little bit ahead of Tessa since he was heavier. They both jumped up and ran towards the Moblin at full speed again. The distance between them and the monster seemed massive. Once again the Moblin brought up his club and brought it down on the ground. "Jump!" Link shouted, and Tessa did, though a second too late. She still flew back but somehow she managed to shift her weight and landed on her feet and hands. Link had been more lucky and he continued forward. With a grunt Tessa jumped back up and ran again.

This went on for a few minutes. Sweat poured down both fighter's backs, and Tessa could feel more bruises begin to pile on her rear end than she ever had in her entire life. Now she wasn't even scared of the Moblin, but she was frustrated at their failure to even reach the creature.

"Tessa!" Link called out. "Let's head back to the stairs." He turned his back to run and that was when Tessa saw the Moblin begin to charge. It held its club as high in the air as it could and roared after them. Link turned around and charged for the Moblin.

"Link are you crazy?" Tessa screamed. Link seemed to ignore her and kept running. After she looked at the Moblin once again Tessa gulped and began to run towards the Moblin as well. She gripped her sword as tightly as she could and watched as the Moblin swung his arm forward towards Link. The guy just dove and rolled underneath the Moblin's feet. Tessa felt her heart pound in her chest as Link jumped back up to his feet and slashed his sword through the monster's ankles. A gigantic howl of pain resounded through the forest and the monster started to collapse forward. Tessa shrieked as she noticed that it would fall on her and began to backpedal before she turned and ran harder than she had ever ran in her life. The Moblin hit the ground with a sickening thud and continued to howl in pain. However, the impact of the fall sent Tessa flying forward and she rolled a couple of times before she stopped.

The sound of Link's shout and his sword slicing through the Moblin vaguely caught Tessa's attention. She felt a little dazed and dizzy, and part of her stomach flipped over on itself. "Ugh." Tessa lied there until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Link's voice entered her ears.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Tessa felt Link roll Tessa over towards him onto her back. She frowned and looked up at the Hero of Time. "You do know that if I do get sick this is probably the worst position for it? I could drown in my own vomit." Tessa sat up and rubbed her neck.

"Well...it would also be bad if you rolled the other way and fell down the stairs." Link motioned towards Tessa's other side and she looked at what he had talked about. The staircase was very close, and Tessa looked up at Link thankfully.

"The Moblin is dead, right?"

"Yes." Link offered his hand to the girl and she took it gratefully. He lifted her up and it took a moment for Tessa to feel secure on her own feet again.

"That thing is too heavy for its own good." Tessa grumbled as they began to walk towards the Mobling. Link only nodded as they began to edge around the fallen monster. When they got all of the way around it they looked ahead to see another set of stairs. "Wow...Link, how many more staircases are there?"

"This is the last one. I hope there aren't any more Moblins." Link admitted and started to climb the stairs. Tessa sunk her shoulders and followed after him.

This set of stairs was shorter than the previous one and they scaled it in what appeared to be no time at all. When they reached the top they about collapsed in relief. There were no monsters to be seen, only a clearing with nothing but grass. Some sort of stone platform sat in the middle of the clearing, and towards the end was a wall with a giant tree.

"We're here." Link motioned to the top of the tree and Tessa saw what appeared to be a platform that hosted what appeared to be an entrance to some place that Tessa couldn't see. She noticed that Link seemed to direct his attention towards a stump that seemed rather pathetic compared to the rest of the area. His face seemed anguished as he walked towards the stump. "Saria's not here..."

Tessa felt her emotions twist for the guy and she walked up behind him. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." For a moment the two stared at the stump in silence.

"Link, don't worry about Saria. She's inside of the Forest Temple."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Wee! Another chappie! Wow, you know that goal I had? It got thrown out the window. Too much stuff. I have to pack today also, for both my trip I leave on tomorrow and I think I'm going to start gathering my things for college. There's only three weeks left! Holy cow! I'll try to get as many chapters as I can out. If i don't have internet, I'll write things down in a notebook that I'm going to bring. I miss Word that way._

_Well, please review!!  
_


	15. Minuet of Forest

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Fifteen: Minuet of Forest  
**

Link and Tessa whirled to see who had spoken to them. The Hero of Time had automatically grabbed his sword and was ready to draw it but relaxed after he got a full view of who had spoken to them. Tessa raised her eyebrow at the stranger and looked at him from head to toe. He had on a rather tight form-fitting suit and had a head wrapped in bandages. Through the bandages were some tufts of hair that stuck out at odd angles, and the one eye that she could see was bright red. Whoever it was seemed to be in rather good shape, and must have fought for most of his life.

"Sheik, you startled me." Link let out a sigh of relief and went up to the man. Tessa's expression became curious and she followed him. The man in front of them was rather mysterious, and had a stiff air but at the same time his movements were fluid. Everything about this man seemed to contrast with himself, as if he didn't make any sense.

"Who is this?" Sheik asked. He motioned towards Tessa and Link actually had to look back to see who he had pointed out. Tessa growled at Link, and he just laughed.

"This is Tessa. She is trying to find her way home, but she's accompanying me on my quest." Link explained. Tessa hugged her arms closer to herself and backed away from Sheik as he continued to stare at her. Something about his red gaze unsettled her, and she didn't like the sensation one bit. After a minute Sheik's unwavering stare turned back towards the Hero of Time.

"And you're sure she's trustworthy?" Sheik asked, skeptical. Tessa fought back the urge to snarl at the strange guy. "Do you even know where she came from?"

"It's obvious she isn't from around here." Link stated, a little bit cautious with his wording. "I trust her right now, maybe not with my life, but to help me."

Tessa didn't even fight the urge to stick out her tongue before she whirled on her heel and stomped off towards the stone platform that she had noticed earlier. "It's dark out, I'm going to get some sleep!" She called out and lied down on the smooth stone. Though it looked like it would be a rough night on that thing, it seemed oddly comforting at the time. With a small yawn Tessa closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear another word from the strange man.

What Tessa found even more strange was how quickly she had gotten sleepy. She couldn't even hear what the other two were saying, and for a moment she saw Navi's light through her eyelids and then it zoomed away again. Then she heard the sounds of a harp being played, and it was beautiful. Soon afterwards Link's ocarina joined in the pleasant melody. It seemed to draw her into an immediate sleep.

_She felt as though she was floating in a dark void, but it was not a scary place. Tessa opened her eyes and blinked to see if they would adjust, but they would not. The feeling of floating in the air unsettled Tessa and she maneuvered to stand on her feet, but there was no floor beneath her. "Hello?" She called out. For a minute she wondered if she really was alone, until she saw something barely noticeable in the dark. It was a red light that seemed to get larger and larger as time drew on. Soon she was able to make out a shape of somebody in the light. Suddenly the light was upon her. Without thinking she covered her vision with her arms, but that didn't seem to be enough._

_It was then that she noticed something strange. She felt wings placed on her back, and without a thought of her own they moved to help Tessa shade her eyes. Tessa looked at the wings from her side and gasped. They looked to be made of bright red flames. Though they were flames, it seemed she could distinguish individual feathers if she looked closely enough. A soft gasp escaped her lips, until she felt a warm hand on her face. She jumped away, her wings splayed out with the action, and seemed to await her next command._

_Tessa stared at the woman that had appeared in front of her. The light had dimmed considerably and seemed to surround the woman with a warm glow. She also had wings of fire, but they made Tessa's seem pathetic in comparison. Not only was there a regular flame, but there seemed to be many different colored flames. Tessa remembered that burning different metals could result in odd-colored flames, which was where this woman might have gotten the effect. They were also considerably longer in length, and much more terrifying._

_The woman's fire-red gaze never moved, even as Tessa openly wondered at her. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with dramatic bangs that seemed to stray from her face. She had an almost cocky smirk upon her face, and she crossed her arms, which made Tessa's eyes move to the giant golden bracelets that seemed to float around her wrists. Her hair was tied back with similar golden metal, and she also had a matching necklace. For a moment Tessa had to keep herself from giggling at the strange outfit the woman wore. It was almost like a jumpsuit, but with extra frills that made it seem as if she danced. The smirk turned to a frown as Tessa continued to stare, and finally it turned into a snarl._

_"You're a little rude, aren't you?" She snapped at Tessa. Tessa jumped back even more, and frowned at the woman in front of her. "If I wanted to I could kill you right here and now, so don't piss me off!"_

_Even though Tessa knew it was probably stupid, she snarled right back at the woman. "Oh__ boo. Just because your wings are bigger than mine doesn't mean you're all that!" Tessa made to fly off into the dark abyss but the woman's hand was suddenly around her throat. She couldn't even remember any movement made by her._

_"How dare you talk to me like that! Do you even know who I am?" The red-haired woman screamed. Tessa flinched at the sound of the scream, for some reason there was something inhuman about it._

_"Do I care?" Tessa didn't know why her temper was worse than it usually was, but for some reason she felt as though it was natural. For some reason the dark abyss seemed to draw anger out of her like it had been there all along. She suddenly kicked the woman in her stomach and took off, her wings moving as fast as they could. "I have to find my way out of here." Tessa muttered and spun around a few times, until somebody landed on her back. She twisted her neck to see the red-haired woman, and suddenly she felt herself fall. The speed was intense and it made her eyes water._

_"I'm the Goddess of Power, Din!" She yelled. "I could blast you into smithereens! Haven't your Four Gods ever taught you anything?" For a minute the sound wasn't pure anger, but a hint of exasperation entered her voice._

_"What the hell?" Tessa felt her fear growing as she fell more and more. She wasn't sure if there was a bottom to this abyss, but she really didn't want to find out. Her wings tried to push Din off but failed. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Tessa screamed, and For a minute silence pursued the both of them, just wind that seemed to never end as they continued to fall._

_Then Din was off Tessa. Once that happened Tessa felt her wings shift and she was floating once more. Din flew to about a few inches from Tessa's face. She was much taller than Tessa was, and a shimmer from the flame-wings showed that Din possessed a lot of muscle. There was no way that Tessa's kick had affected her at all. "What do you mean you have no idea. You have four gods, everybody in your world knows that."_

_"Umm...my world has many gods, but I only believe in one." Tessa frowned at Din. Din seemed taken aback._

_"What world are you from?" Din asked, almost suspiciously. Tessa rolled her eyes and jabbed her finger into Din's collarbone._

_"You're the goddess, why don't you tell me?" Tessa smirked in triumph, but screamed as she felt Din's fist in her stomach. Tessa doubled over in pain and began to cough uncontrollably._

_"You're not very bright." Din's voice was threaded with disdain. "You're not from Termina then."_

_"I've never heard of it." Tessa looked back up at Din, as her coughing stopped. "I'm from a world that's completely different from Hyrule." Tessa finally felt the pain begin to ebb, but she didn't move out of her doubled-over position. For a minute she wondered if any of her organs had been smashed but realized that she would probably be in more pain if that had happened._

_"Shit." Din flew a few meters away and began to observe Tessa with a critical eye. Finally she flew forward and held a hand out to Tessa._

_"I can't believe I'm going to say sorry to you." Din grumbled as Tessa cautiously took her hand. Tessa felt a jolt of knowledge that Tessa had never seen before. For a moment she felt as if she was going to be sick, but then Din let go of her hand. "I gave you basic weapons knowledge." The goddess stated as if it was tedious. "You won't be fantastic, except for a bow and arrow. It's a weapon that two of my sisters and I know very well. The Hero of Time will teach you more, if you need it."_

_Tessa looked down at her hand. It was then she realized that she was not in the red tunic she had been in earlier, but a red dress. It was beautiful, but Tessa immediately felt uncomfortable in it. She didn't even have time earlier to register what she was wearing._

_"I can't teach you magic at this spot." Din admitted. "You'll have to search for the right spot to learn your own kind of power, and when you're there I'll teach it to you, but for now you'll have to make due with what you already know." She turned her back on Tessa. For a minute there was uncomfortable silence and then Din coughed. "I wish I could have gotten a better chosen, and I shouldn't complain with you, but you're not much of a reincarnation."_

_That last statement made Tessa's eyes widen, and at the same time her anger flared. Before she could yell again Din began to speak again._

_"Well...it's time for you to go. I hope you can handle this world." The goddess then began to fade, and Tessa shouted but her voice was gone. She opted to reach for Din but when she let her hand forward she noticed that she was fading as well._

_"I hope you're not as pathetic as you seem."_

Suddenly light broke through Tessa's eyes and she groaned. For a minute she wondered where she was as she let her eyes adjust, and then Link's face broke through Tessa's vision.

"Are you ready to get up?" Link asked. He looked somewhat annoyed. Tessa waited for her anger to flash but instead she felt slightly sad. She shook that feeling away and sat up. Dawn had broken a while ago.

"How long was I out?" Tessa asked.

"Well...I tried to get you up earlier..." Link trailed off, which made Tessa curious. "Are you running a fever or something?"

"What?" She noticed Navi fly up to her face and a minuscule hand touched her forehead.

"No she's not." Navi flew back to sit on Link's shoulder. Tessa sighed and stood up.

"Well, we're going to the Forest Temple now. You're going to have to hold on to me. This is going to be rough." Link brought out the hook shot and Tessa almost grimaced. She walked with Link towards the large tree that lead to where the Forest Temple should be. Link opened his free arm out to her and Tessa reluctantly held onto him with a hug. For some reason adventuring was less appealing than it was before.

Link didn't seem to notice Tessa's downcast mood and suddenly they went hurtling through the air, and it was much more uncomfortable than in Tessa's dream.

"Am I really pathetic?" Tessa whispered to herself.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_SORRY! I know I was supposed to write this a week ago, but when I came home I didn't even get a break. It's been college stuff. I move into my dorm on Friday, and I'm just a tad bit busy. I'm actually putting off packing the stuff we bought today._

_So I hope you all like it! I worked really hard to make it interesting, but I'm not sure if I did it right..._


	16. A Moment of Doubt

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Sixteen: A Moment of Doubt  
**

"Get behind me." Link's voice was dark as he shoved Tessa behind him. Tessa frowned at the action but shuddered when she thought of what lie ahead for both of them. Navi had called them wolfos, but they just seemed like demonic wolves that were ready to attack at any given moment. Their eyes were filled with bloodlust and they snarled. Drool dropped from their muzzles and Tessa saw the faintest of disease.

"Link...you can't get bitten by one of them." Tessa's voice filled with urgency. Link glanced back at her but otherwise didn't move or say anything. "I think they're rabid..."

"I understand." Link said carefully. His gaze was concentrated entirely on the enemy wolfos and Tessa frowned. She drew her sword. It was not worth it to get bitten and go insane. She still had a home that she needed to return to.

Tessa grimaced as she remembered the knowledge that Din had given her. The one thing that brain memory couldn't produce was instant muscle memory, so Tessa wasn't sure if what she had learned would be of any use. She gripped her sword so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Hey, mutt!" Tessa called out. She had meant to sound strong but realized that her voice sounded just as terrified as she felt at that moment.

The glittering yellow eyes of the wolfos locked onto her and it stiffened. Tessa felt goosebumps rise all over her body as the monster looked her over. Drool came off its muzzle and Tessa started to back off from fear. Suddenly she plummeted toward the ground after she tripped over a tree root and saw the wolfos ready to jump on her unprotected form. Link used the moment to shove the wolfos off him and stand back up. The wolfos that had already gutted itself on Link's blade fell from it onto the ground. The sound sickened Tessa and made her stomach churn.

"Run!" Link yelled. Tessa stood up as fast as she could and ran on shaky legs towards the entrance of the temple. Behind her she heard Navi shout out to distract the wolfos from Tessa's retreating form. Tessa only relaxed when the door slammed behind her. She stumbled forward a few feet and collapsed against a wall.

'_You're not much of a reincarnation._'

Tessa's memory flashed back to what Din had said what seemed like not too long ago. Tears pricked her eyes.

'_I hope you're not as pathetic as you seem._'

"I really am...I can't even fight." A wave of nausea hit Tessa as she realized that there was no reason for her to be there. Why did Link need somebody like her to tag along? She heard the snarling of the wolfos and Link's shouts as they battled outside. With a muffled sob Tessa moved from her knees to her butt, and then began to hug her legs. "I just want to go home..."

For a minute Tessa sifted through her memories. To her concern she realized that there were some blank spots there, but she didn't agonize over it. People forgot things after time, she would just have to try harder when she wanted to remember.

The noise of the battle outside died, and Tessa felt a jolt go up her spine as a new sound approached her ears. The battle had hidden the noise before, but now she could hear it clearly. Something scratched along the hard stone floor. For a second Tessa just sat there with her head in her knees like a statue, but the noise got even louder and Tessa couldn't leave it alone. She looked up and realized she couldn't see anything. No light had gotten through the door, and it was almost like the dream space she had seen Din in, but there were no fiery wings, and she could feel the floor firmly beneath her.

Briefly Tessa wondered where Link was, but rationalized that he might have been injured. Silently she decided to back up towards the door quietly and go see if he was all right. She took one step back, and cringed as she heard the crack of a stick behind her.

Things seemed to happen all at once. The door opened and light flooded the opening hallway of the temple, and Tessa realized that the creature that had made the noise was a giant spider that resembled a deformed skull. However, it didn't give her time to react because she saw it as it jumped through the air. It landed on top of her and went to try and kill her with weird pincers.

Tessa's body was on automatic as she moved her head from the right to the left to dodge the attacks, and she kicked the spider's much softer underbelly. With a screech it reared up and then she saw Link swiftly put his sword through its stomach. Black blood fell down Link's sword and when he ripped the sword up to create a giant gash before he pulled out the blood began to spill out onto Tessa.

"Tessa, move before it collapses!" Navi screeched. Tessa felt numb, and Link grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her backwards out from underneath the spider. A few seconds later it crashed onto the grand. She stared at it in wide-eyed shock, and she hardly noticed when Link squatted down next to her.

"Are you all right?" Link asked. Tessa blinked a couple of times before her eyes could focus on his face. With a sigh of shame she averted her gaze downcast.

"I think it'd be better if I waited in the Sacred Forest Meadow." Tessa mumbled. She barely registered the wet feeling of the creature's blood on her tunic and face. She moved to stand up but Link put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Tessa, not everybody notices these things right away." Link's voice was comforting. Tessa still refused to look at him. Din's words echoed in her head even louder than before.

'_Pathetic_.'

For a minute longer Tessa continued to be silent. It wasn't for a bit that Tessa swallowed and forced herself to speak. "Link, I'm not a fighter. Where I'm from...the lifestyle that I lived...I can't do this."

It seemed as though Link considered what she said. He was silent almost as long as she had been. "Tessa, I don't really expect you to fight unless you absolutely have to. You're here to find your way home, and if that happens within the next day that's great. If you think that this isn't the right way to do that, I understand if you want to leave."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Navi flutter around as if to try and comfort her. Tessa simply looked away from Link's small fairy companion.

"If you want to stick around though, you're going to have to come with me. I'm not going to leave you alone to fend for yourself while you wait for me to return, if I return at all." Link's voice was now very firm, and he seemed to grip her shoulder even tighter than he had before. "If you want to fight, you can. If you want to sit at the sidelines, I won't blame you. I've come this far with just myself and Navi. I can't force you to do anything you don't want to." He waited for Tessa to answer. The guilt that she felt overrode her ability to respond him. The silence continued for a long time. With a resigned sigh, Link began to draw away. "I'm sorry, if you don't want to stay with me. I understand if you want to go."

Before he could stand fully up, Tessa grabbed his tunic towards the hem. "Wait..."

Link did just that. For a minute she still continued to stare at the ground, and she kept her silence. When she looked up her eyes were brimmed with tears.

"Just tell me one thing..." Tessa swallowed before she continued. "Am I pathetic?"

Link seemed to have a slow reaction to the question. He had obviously chosen his next few sentences carefully, but before he said one word he bent down and offered her a hand. "Tessa, you're foreign, you're temperamental, you have a bit of an ego, and you're very brave." Link had a smile on his face that seemed to comfort Tessa almost like magic. "I have yet to see if you're pathetic or not."

Tessa took his hand, and he pulled her up. She mumbled a thank you, and blushed before she punched his shoulder lightly. It was almost comical, because she was so short she had to reach up to hit it. Link stifled a laugh and cleaned his sword by smearing the blood on his tunic before he inserted it back into its sheath.

"All right then. Let's go." Link began to head down, and Tessa started to follow him, but considered it and decided for once to walk next to him. She gave him a curious glance and she realized that she blushed as she considered one of the things he had said.

"Link...you really think I'm brave?" Tessa asked. Even Navi seemed perplexed by that and the two females waited for an answer from the Hero of Time.

Link almost had a wry grin on his face. "Tessa, from what you've said about your life, it's been very pampered. I've been around those who are pampered, and most of them wouldn't leave their houses unless it was a lazy activity. Most of them won't leave their houses anymore out of fear, and actually hire people to do the dangerous things that need to be done. You could just as easily have lived a safe life."

"I'm not rich." Tessa pointed out. "Whatever I have has been from my short time on Lon Lon Ranch. I don't think I could afford that."

"You still agreed to go on an adventure. It's almost a bit unbelievable. That's why I think you're brave."

Navi gave a little skeptical noise but said nothing.

Tessa punched Link's shoulder once again.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_Well, I thought I'd write that. I wanted it to go all of the way through the temple, but I don't have the patience! I'm weird like that. Maybe I just want to post the chapter...hmm..._

_In any case, please review!_


	17. Entering the Forest Temple

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Seventeen: Entering the Forest Temple  
**

The first entrance hall had seemed to continue on forever. Eventually they lost the light of the open door behind them and had to rely on Navi to provide clues as to what lie ahead. Tessa felt her eyes start to become irritated with the constant dark and she rubbed them with her fingers. "Link, you've really never been in here?" Tessa asked.

"Really. I have no idea of what lies ahead." Link's voice showed his honesty and Tessa didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. After a moment of thought she realized that if neither of them knew what was going to happen or where they had to go then they were going to be overly cautious and jumpy the whole time. With a grimace Tessa hugged her arms closer to her body.

"Link...how do you do all of this?" Tessa waited for Link to answer but a confused silence fell between them. When she realized that she had been confusing she tried to rephrase her question. "Umm...how is it that you are able to go into the unknown time and time again. Doesn't it drive you insane?"

He considered her question for a moment. Navi seemed to turn around to hear Link's answer. She must wonder about the same thing, or she might just worry about the well-being of her charge. Tessa kept her focus on the small fairy since she couldn't actually see Link.

"Well...I've done it since I was a kid. The Kokiri aren't allowed to leave the forest, and when I left I was terrified, but at the same time I was still curious about the world around me. I think some of that carried..." Link's voice trailed off before he finished his sentence as both of them noticed that light began to hit them again. An entrance appeared somewhat quickly, though the light from it was almost faint. They continued in silence, both of them entered the room with their swords drawn, and Link stood a little bit ahead of Tessa with his shield protectively in front of the both of them. Navi flew above their heads and cried out.

They didn't have to ask what had made Navi so surprised. In the center of the room in a square corner formation were four standing torches that each had their own color of fire. Tessa was briefly reminded of Din's enormous fiery wings but those thoughts were chased away when she saw four poes float into her eyesight. They carried handheld lanterns, and each one had a tattered garment the same color as one of the flames. Those colors were red, blue, green, and purple. They let out a joint cackle that sent shivers up Tessa's spine and suddenly they each went to their respective flames and put them into their lanterns. Only a few seconds after that, instead of attacking the trio, they cackled and disappeared to leave the room dark.

Tessa stared out into the darkness with disbelief. "What?"

"I think I know where to find the Sage of Forest." Link stated. He withdrew his sword from his sheath and began to walk forward with Navi as his guide once again.

"How did you figure it out so quickly? I just saw four poes! And they took away our light!" Tessa felt the strong urge to continue whining but figured that she should at least keep her mouth shut so that Link could explain what he had said.

"Didn't you notice what moved?" Link asked. Tessa followed him and realized that he had stopped in the exact middle of the four torches. She thought about what she had seen, but her memory really only focused on the scary ghost-like creatures that left both her and Link blind in the dark. For once she was thankful for Navi.

"Not really."

"Well, whatever it was sunk into the ground when the fires were taken away. We have to get the flames back to the torches."

Tessa narrowed her eyes at Link even though she knew that he could not see her. "And how do you propose we do that? Magic?"

"I thought you could use magic." The statement turned out as a question and Tessa wished she could smack Link for that comment.

"What the hell gave you that idea?" Tessa snapped.

"Well, the fight with the deku scrubs." Link pointed out as he began to walk forward again. Tessa pouted.

"That wasn't me!" Tessa protested. "I have no idea what happened!"

"It was you." Link's voice had a bit of a teasing chime within it. Tessa's eye twitched and she ran to catch up with him.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to head that way?" A woman with cropped light green hair asked a cloaked figure. The suspicion the woman felt was hidden underneath a cool mask. "I've lived around the forest for my entire life, and I have never been able to navigate the Lost Woods."

For a minute the cloaked figure was silent. The woman surveyed the stranger with blue eyes, and subtly gripped her bow so that it was more secure. "I think I have a way to do it. There is something urgent I have to take care of." A sly voice came from the stranger and the woman simply frowned. The girl that was under there seemed as if she knew what she was doing, but that just caused for more distrust. With Ganondorf in power there was no way to predict what anybody's motives could be.

"May I ask your name?"

Once again there was silence, and the figure turned to face the woman. "Frielae. Suppose I were to ask yours?"

"Dara. I hope all goes well within the forest." The woman bowed slightly. Frielae returned the gesture and spun on her heel. Without so much as another word she entered the forest and seemed to disappear into the mist. Dara frowned and looked upon the forest with a wary eye. "I don't like the feeling I get from this."

She couldn't afford to dwell on the situation any more and began to head home.

* * *

"Well, here's a door. Should we really just go through it like that?" Tessa asked skeptically. Link seemed to share Tessa's skepticism, but they both knew that they had to take these chances in order to find the Sage of Forest. He twisted the doorknob and the door creaked as it opened. The hallway was also dark, but some sort of light seemed to bounce around inside it.

"Oh that God." Tessa breathed. She looked at the light with an almost insatiable joy and started to walk towards it. "We can use that easier than Navi's pathetic light."

Navi squeaked in protest and Link almost laughed before he gripped Tessa's shoulder. "I'm not sure if walking right up to it is the best idea."

"Why do you say that?"

The Hero of Time looked ahead and squinted. "Well...it's probably not what you think it is. I've learned that the hard way many times." He admitted. Tessa frowned at him but listened to his advice...whether she agreed with him or not. They walked towards the creature but Link took the lead. His sword was ready and his footsteps were cautious. Tessa simply held her sword in her hand and walked slowly behind him. She took less care in her step than Link. As the light drew itself into focus they could faintly make out something within it. Navi flew right up to it and zoomed back. Her voice shrieked an alarm and Link ran forward with his sword ready to stab whatever the light was through. Tessa simply ran to keep up with him.

Link dove and just as his sword was about to go through whatever it was, it dodged. Tessa got a glimpse of it and immediately felt like she was going to pass out. It was a bouncing skull that appeared to be engulfed in flames, and had little wings that pierced through each side of it. Before any of them had time to react it grabbed onto Link's leg with its bony teeth. He gasped a bit and began to hop around on one foot as he tried to unlatch the skull. Navi swirled around Link in a panicked frenzy.

Tessa gulped and reached forward. She had a hard time as she tried to pry the mouth open, but eventually she got her fingers underneath the teeth. Amazingly enough she did not feel the flames, but she had to bite her lip in order to keep from whimpering when it came to the skull's teeth. For a second she was able to pry the top of the jaw away and Link used that opportunity to shove his sword through it's mouth. With a muffled screech the thing died and Link swung his sword to get rid of the skull.

"Did it break skin?" Link asked. Tessa looked at the bloody wound, but realized that the fire had gone out with the skull. Navi flew forward and Tessa was able to see a small blood stain forming.

"A little bit. You'll probably feel it soon enough." Tessa frowned. "Is there anything we have that we can bandage it with?"

Navi flew around Tessa with a slight giggle. "We don't need a bandage. Save those for more serious injuries." The fairy seemed to chide Tessa. The girl snarled and she tried to grab Navi out of the air but was relatively unsuccessful.

"I hate you." Tessa snarled at the fairy. Navi just seemed to giggle and hover around Link's head. Link rolled his eyes at the two females and tested his leg out on the ground. Once he felt sure that he could walk fine he began to head off again.

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_I'm going to try my hardest to get updates out, I promise! On the upside, college is really fun! Our football team won our game against Ohio University today, and I enjoy my classes and I'm making a lot of new friends. On the downside, there was this INTENSE sun today, so I have a farmer's tan now. Haha!_

_Right...so I'll start working on the next chapter then. But before I do: Dara does not belong to me! She is a contest winner character that I held and she belongs to MurakisSlave on Deviantart. If anybody wants to enter the contest, I still have a few spots left, then please visit my deviantart, The-Youkai-Nightmare._

_I love you!_


	18. The Hero's Bow

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Zelda, only the essential plot line I have written here_

_**The Flames of Time**_

**Chapter Eighteen: The Hero's Bow  
**

"So this is the Forest Temple." Frielae eyed the entrance skeptically. The pendant around her neck shone with a small green hue. She looked down and almost rolled her eyes. She wouldn't have even come around if she wasn't getting paid for it. King Ganondorf made sure that she would be paid a hefty sum if she accomplished the task. With a sniff she turned to a giant stone platform that lie in the middle of she had been informed would be the sacred forest meadow.

Without so much as a warning the pendant seemed to attempt to stretch out towards the platform, as if it wanted her to step on it. "Stupid choker." Frielae grumbled, but knew that the pendant seemed to have a mind of its own. Superstition kept her from disobeying it so she stepped forward. It wasn't long before she stood on the stone and felt something almost inviting shroud her mind.

* * *

"We've been going through this place all stinking day!" Tessa shouted in frustration. Every time they turned a corner it appeared that they had come back to where they started. The Forest temple was even worse than the Lost Woods when it came to direction. Even Link seemed somewhat peeved at the situation. The blonde wiped his forehead and looked at Navi to see if she had any idea as to where they were going. However, the fairy seemed just as lost as the both of them.

"Just a few more doors." Link tried to encourage the girl. She simply glared at him and grumbled an assent, but he could see that her eyes were drooping ever so slightly. They would need to stop for rest soon. Above them Navi seemed to be searching for anything that looked like it was new to their memory, but she found nothing.

With a groan the Hero of Time led the two females forward. Navi, who had tired from hovering all day, sat on his head and gave just a bit of supporting light. Tessa yawned beside him and it wasn't long until Link felt her head rest on his back. With a suppressed grin the guy turned his head to slightly dozing Tessa. "Wake up." Link semi-ordered and walked forward so that Tessa lost his support. Without him the girl fell flat on her face and with a yelp of pain she grabbed her nose and rolled over onto her back.

"What the hell was that?" Tessa yelled. Link snorted in laughter and she glowered at him.

"You fell asleep." Link explained. Tessa glared daggers at the poor guy and stood up slowly. Her legs felt wobbly. "All right, lets just get through this one door and we'll see if it's safe to sleep in there."

"Thank God." Tessa breathed and started to head forward without Link. The prospect of getting sleep clouded her judgment and she didn't think twice about opening a strange door. Link didn't even believe that there would be much in front of them or behind them to fight, so he didn't stop her. However he ran forward when he heard a little gasp from Tessa. Even Navi seemed to hover a few feet but then fell right back on Link's head.

He stopped when he saw what the next hallway contained. The floor and walls seemed to twist. At one point the floor was even upside down and even though gravity seemed to twist in their favor Tessa could not help but feel the slightly nauseous feeling that started up in the pit of her stomach. When they finally got through to the end the both of them collapsed on the ground from wobbly legs.

"This room is just as bad that hallway." Tessa groaned as she looked around. Staircases led in many different directions, some were upside-down and some were sideways. There were only a couple of stairs that Link and Tessa could actually walk on, unless gravity had been skewed in this room as well. Link didn't reply but the look on his face showed Tessa that he at least agreed with her. Tessa sighed in resignation and started to walk forward. As soon as she was out in the open her ears caught on to a strange noise that she couldn't pinpoint. "Link, do you hear that?"

"I do...but..." He looked around to see where the noise could come from. Navi flew out but also saw nothing. When she turned around she let out a sudden cry.

"Tessa, move!" Navi shouted. Tessa took a moment to register what the fairy had said and bent her legs to begin running. A nanosecond later something large dropped down onto her head and shoulders and began to pull her up off the floor. With a screech Tessa reached up to grip what felt like skin with thin amounts of hair. She struggled to look up and in the end couldn't, but she saw Navi zoom straight towards her. The fairy swirled around Tessa's waist as she blinked red in alarm. Tessa got the message and reached down to grab her sword. She unsheathed it with difficulty and shoved it upward into whatever it was that had grabbed onto her. It let out a deformed scream and dropped Tessa a few feet onto the ground. She landed on her back and looked up to see the Hero of Time split what appeared to be a giant hand in half. It fell to the ground in two pieces. One landed on Tessa's right side and the other didn't make it back onto the platform and fell even farther onto the floor.

"Are you all right?" Link walked over to Tessa and lent her his hand. The Master Sword was sheathed and he held the Kokiri sword in his left hand. She must have left it in the dismembered hand. Tessa's stomach churned even more ferociously as she thought about it. After a moment she groaned and took his hand. He pulled her up quickly and she stumbled in place for a moment before she steadied her legs.

"Fine...just..." Tessa shuddered as Link gave Tessa the Kokiri Sword back. She sheathed it and tried to look steadier than she was when she looked Link in the eye. "Now what?"

"We continue on. You can't say you're tired now, can you?" The Hero of Time grinned a little bit and Tessa rolled her yes. She couldn't deny that he was right, and followed him as he moved. They had to jump on occassion but made it through the strange room quickly enough. The next few rooms felt like a giant maze of ladders and stairs, and the more they walked through the more depressing the temple seemed.

"Link...this is supposed to be a temple that originally protects the forest...right?" Tessa asked at one point.

"Well...I'd say that it hosts the Sage of the Forest, of whom guards the forest." Link had to think about it for a minute. "Why?"

"Oh I dunno...maybe I just thought a temple would be a cheerier place if somebody that powerful was supposed to live here." With a shrug the conversation ended and they continued on.

It felt like forever before they stumbled across an odd circular room. It had a whole cut out of the floor which probably dropped down onto the lower level. As they began to walk around it they heard something above them. Tessa jumped out and away from the circular hole as she expected another hand to drop on her but instead, when she looked back the hole was filled and covered with a round rug. On top of it were two armored skeletons.

"They're Stalfos!" Navi shouted. Tessa felt her blood run cold as she remembered what the fairy had said about Stalfos. They were probably former Hylians who had gotten lost within that enchanted forest. Link didn't seem to think about that as he drew out his sword. One seemed to have locked onto him for battle, but the other had its sights set on Tessa. It came forward with a sword and shield ready. Tessa felt the small sword that was back in its sheath and drew it out. She felt very unprotected. On its back she couldn't help but notice a set of arrows in a quiver and a bow to go with them.

The light of the Stalfos' eyes glowed with ferocious intensity; it caused Tessa to stare unblinkingly into them as it advanced into her. They held an unbelievably angry glare that seemed filled with hatred and sorrow at the same time. Tessa blinked when she saw something almost human within them.

"He's...not..." Tessa began to murmur before the sight of the Stalfos' sword in her peripheral vision knocked whatever it was out of her mind. At the last moment she fell backward and felt the wind of the blade centimeters from her nose. With wide eyes Tessa hit the floor. The Stalfos didn't hesitate a beat and raised the sword up in a position to drive it straight through Tessa. With a scream Tessa rolled out of the way just in time. The sword dug itself deep into the stone floor. Although she hoped that the Stalfos would become stuck as he tried to pry the sword out, he didn't and instead grabbed the back of her tunic and held her up. Her scream cut off when the other skeleton hand wrapped around her throat to cut off her oxygen supply. She gripped the hand around her throat with her own hands and tried to loosen his grip unsuccessfully. A wave of panic surged through her body and she grabbed onto the hand tightly. Her own felt increasingly warm until they felt as hot as fire. For a minute her vision started to blur and black dots speckled her vision. The heat surrounded her and suddenly she was dropped as the Stalfos screeched.

Tessa sucked in air without thinking about the Stalfos. She breathed heavily and it took a minute for her to regain her composure. When she looked behind her there was nothing left of the Stalfos but ash. For a minute she just stared in confusion until the sight of Navi flew into her peripheral vision. The fairy flew up to Tessa's face as quickly as she could and seemed to float there, as if she was staring. "What happened?"

"I don't know..."

Link came towards her with wide eyes. "What did you do?"

With an irritated growl Tessa repeated herself. Link sighed and offered her a hand in order to help her up.

"Hey, look!" Navi shouted. Link dropped Tessa midway through helping her up in order to do see what Navi had been so excited about and she fell flat on her butt. With an snarl Tessa kicked Link's legs out from under him so that he collapsed next to her.

"Try that again and I'll kick your ass." Tessa growled at him and stood up on her own, she hadn't even thought about the fact that if she got into a battle with Link she would be dead within seconds. Link glared back at her but followed suit. They both stared as Navi flew wildly around something in the middle of the carpet. It appeared to be some sort of chest. There were multiple cuts on it, but it didn't seem to have been opened due to the perfect condition of a lock.

"I think this is what the Stalfos were doing when they got sent down here. They probably couldn't figure out how to open a chest with a lock on it." Navi commented. Tessa reached towards it and within moments was thrown back with a jolt of power. Link's face hovered above her head as her vision returned to normal.

"Well...I think we know why they can't open the chest." Link looked almost amused at Tessa, and she kicked his legs out from under him again. He fell down with an 'oomph' and Navi began to hover over the two of them.

"Will the two of you stop goofing around?!" Navi sounded exasperated with the both of them. Tessa growled up at her and Link just began to laugh. The fairy began to grumble and flew back over to the chest, but obviously made sure to stay a safe distance away from whatever had shocked Tessa.

After Link stopped laughing he looked over at Tessa with a somewhat goofy grin on his face. "Are you all right?" Link asked through teary eyes. Tessa rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Jerk." Tessa grumbled. Link wiped the tears and stood up as well.

"I bet it won't happen with me!" Link jerked his thumb towards his chest. Tessa gave him a weird look, she did not know what was amusing him all of a sudden. After a minute though she couldn't help but give him a challenging glare.

"Go for it. See what happens."

He didn't hesitate a moment and went to reach for the chest. For a moment he tensed but then he touched the chest. Nothing happened. Tessa blinked at him as he removed the lock easily and opened it. She couldn't think to be jealous but instead inched forward slightly. "What's in it?" Link reached into the chest and pulled out a fine wooden bow and a quiver full of arrows.

_You won't be fantastic, except for a bow and arrow._

Something clicked in Tessa's head as she watched Link try to fiddle with the bow. She had watched her neighbor use a bow for most of her life, but she never had enough strength to use one. In actuality she had been better with a rifle, but what Din had said suddenly made her realize exactly what Link was doing wrong as he held the bow.

"I miss my slingshot." Link frowned as he once again failed to string the bow properly. Tessa stepped forward and reached out for it silently. For a moment Link didn't notice her but when she cleared her throat he looked up. "You want to try it?"

"No, I want to eat it." Tessa stated sarcastically. Link grinned and handed it over, clearly expecting it to shock her. It didn't and Tessa observed it carefully. Hylian scripture was engraved on it and she didn't understand a word of it, but within a moment she had the bow strung up and an arrow notched.

"You're...good at that." Link's eyes widened. Tessa shrugged but felt goosebumps rise on her arms as she continued to hold the bow and arrow. The whole mess was starting to freak her out.

"I think Tessa should keep that...she's lousy with the sword." Navi stated as if to insult her, but in the end she was right.

The girl looked up at the two and shrugged as she unstrung the weapon and put it conveniently through her belt. She then grabbed the quiver and slung it over her shoulder.

"We better get going."

_**END OF CHAPPIE**_

_I'm seriously waiting for somebody to kill me right about now. I'm sorry I haven't updated! College is FUN (not) and well...busy. I promise I'll try harder, I wanted to get through to the four poe sisters but once again I felt I should post what I have. Maybe it'll help me update. Or something. Doubtful._

_I do love you guys though!! And I work on the plot in my head throughout the days, but I never get to actually writing it because I'm a lazy person._

_I'm sorry!_


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